Save Earth by Food Management

Save Earth by Food Management

United Nation in the year 1972 institutd 5^th June as Worlds Environment Day to stimulate world wide awareness of the environment and to encourage political attention and action. Its aim is to stimulate world wide awareness of the environment and to encourage political attention and action. Its aim isto involve people from all walks of life in sustainable and equitable development.

The theme for this year’s  World Environment Day is “think Eat And Save”. Its an anti -food waste and food loss campaign that encourages  reduction of one’s “foodprint” which means the impact our food has on environment I(i.e. packaging,distance travelled, amount of resources used to process etc.)

How can we reduce our food print? Its not very difficult if we stick to our traditional eating habbits. Our culture had considered these things way back and was followed in olden days. A traditional kitchen does noot allow wastage of food, it starts with all raw materials (no leftovers) ,cooked in clean kitchen offering food first to God and cow then to senior member and other members of the family, which is followed by serving food to people who work for us and at last to animals especially dogs. The whole process does not leave space for wastage of food.our traditional cooking use ingrediants and spices produced in local area which makes it more ecofriendly.With the passage of time lifestyle got changesd and today we are no more confined to tradition food but have developed taste for international cusine. Change is law of nature and this change is inculcating fealing of brotherhood mixing of people from culturally different people etc . so this change should be welcomed but with little conscious efforts.

These little efforts  can reduce our food print and feed people who are undernourished and sleep hungry at night. Data suggests  that around 27-28%  of children in developing countries are underweight and stunted, one billion children live in poverty  that means every second child, approximately 790 million people in developing world are chronically undernourished. According to Food And Agriculture Organisation more than 20,000 children under the age of 5 die of hunger every day and one in every seven people in the world go tombed  hungry.All these data are self explanatory for the selected theme of ” World Environment Day” as”Think Eat Save”. This theme is against wastage of food or in other words one can say proper management of food. According to UNEP (United Nation Environment Programme) 25% of all habitable land in the world and 70% of fresh water  is used for growing food crops. 80% of deforestation and and 30% of GHGs are emitted in the process of food production from cultivation to consumption stage of food supply chain. Food is lost and wasted in this whole chain due to improper storage, spilling, and untimely use. This can be prevented up to certain extend by home makers if they  store cook and serve food in systematic and planned manner. “FIFO”  should be remembered as mantra for it which means First In First Out i.e. brought (cooked) first should be consumed first. They should prefer locally available vegetables and other groceries over the one which comes by travelling long distance because more fossil fuel is used in this process which increase carbon foot print and food print. Instead of going for tinned food items we should go fresh seasonal food which is not only healthy and nutritious but also ecologically and economically more sound. Don’t cook in large quantity with an intention to store for long time which is bad both for health and environment both. Don’t waste food , share it with needy people.  Dispose left overs properly, feed it to animals or make manure out of it.Whenever you visit a restaurant do not feel hesitant to ask for parcel of leftovers because food you leave in restaurants are generally thrown. Lots of food are wasted in parties where more than 60-70 dishes are served , it will be better if number of dishes can be reduced by selecting few good ones. Many NGOs  have taken initiative to use this food ,they collect them from the spot and distribute it to the needy people.These small efforts can reduce the food wastage, food print and Save Earth.