The Criminal Wastage

"ANNAM PARABRAHMA SWAROOPAM," says our Indian philosophy. This means that food is equal to God as told by our great ancient sayers. But we, their descendants, are we giving the same amount of respect to this age-old God? Frankly, most of us do not. Result: Millions of our fellow beings are dying in hunger when millions of tons of food is being thrown away, wasted, discarded, whatever; for no good reason most of the times. Other times there are a few good complications because of which food is wasted. Except for them, this is a very simple problem with colossal possibilities of simple solutions. In brief it is "Don't waste food; Give it to others." 

Way back in early nineteen sixties, practically every food scientists in India were chanting the now familiar "mantra" that 35% of the country's food was being wasted and urgent measures were required to stop this enormous waste which would only assure food security. After billions of rupees spent on food conservation research during the last 50 years and successfully managing the Green Revolution that ensured plentiful supplies of food grains, is it not a quirk of irony that same "waste mantra" is still repeated ad naseum to day by the Minister for Food Processing Industry at the Center, who might not have been even borne at that time? There is no dearth of conservation technology in the country to prevent the waste and scientific design of grain storage structures is within the reach of the government, if it really desires to arrest the grain wastage. Unfortunately what is lacking is the political will and dynamism on the part of the government that obstructs a long term vision.

When the daughter of businessman Mohammed Sultan got married recently, guests were treated to a lavish 30-course meal served in super-sized silver platters. About 20 percent would've been thrown away.It's a criminal waste,around 100,000 weddings and social events are held in India every day food wasted each day at weddings and family functions in Mumbai alone would be enough to feed the city's vast slum population.food prices in India are rising fast — by 8.4 per cent in June alone — as demand outstrips production. And the burden is falling disproportionately on the poor. Experts say the jump in prices for staples to record highs over the past few months has pushed another 64 million Asians into poverty.

 The loss due to wastage could be reduced by a developed food  processing industry, strengthening of the post- harvest infrastructure and filling the gaps in the supply chain.some of the latest technologies for the cold chain industry include post harvest technologies for pre cooling process technologies for controlled ripening ,high relative humidity cold stores for fruits and vegetables,blast freezing and individual quick freezing for fruits and vegetables among others. 

Some quick tips to reduce food wastage 

 Don't fall for "three for two" deals on fresh food unless you'll definitely use them.

Plan weekly meals and stick to shopping lists.

Watch your portion sizes and make sure plates are being completely cleared at mealtimes.

Remove bad stale food immediately as it can harm the good one .

To conclude I want to quote Gandhiji " If God were to appear to the millions of hungry people, it would be in the form of food".