Food wastage cripples a country’s economy to an extent that most of us are unaware. If food is wasted, there is so much waste of water used in agriculture, manpower and electricity lost in food processing industries and even contributes to deforestation. Taking all of into consideration, the actual worth of money per year in India from food wastage is estimated at a whopping Rs. 58,000 crore.
Why is food wastage a problem?
25% of fresh water used to produce food is ultimately wasted, even as millions of people still don’t have access to drinking water. When the figures are calculated in cubic kilometers, this is a bit more than an average river. Even though the world produces enough food to feed twice the world’s present population, food wastage is ironically behind the billions of people who are malnourished. The number of hungry people in India has increased by 65 million - more than the population of France. According to a survey by Bhook (an organization working towards reducing hunger), in 2013, 20 crore Indians slept hungry on any given night. About 7 million children died in 2012 because of hunger/malnutrition. Acres of land are deforested to grow food. Approximately 45% of India’s land is degraded primarily due to deforestation, unsustainable agricultural practices, and excessive groundwater extraction to meet the food demand. 300 million barrels of oil are used to produce food that is ultimately wasted.
