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Food Wastage – Primary Cause of Hunger

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Hunger is one of the primary reasons behind death in poorer section of people. It shows some devastating effects in children in the form of malnutrition. There are many reasons behind hunger and amongst them food wastage affects the society in a dual way. On one side it does not allow the food to reach to the right hands and on the other side increase the price of food. Strong determination to stop wastage of food can only bring positive effects in society.

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Food is the basic necessity of human being and it is sad to know that at least 925 million people across the world are deprived of it. According to the statistics provided by worldhunger.org among these 925 million people, at least 578 million people are from Asian and Pacific region. A maximum number of people suffering from undernourishment are from developing countries.

It is sad that children are most liable victims of malnourishment. Children deprived from food for a sufficiently long span of time suffer from serious forms of Protein Energy Malnutrition. This situation arises due to the insufficient supply of nutrients especially proteins and energy to the body to meet its demands. A malnourished or undernourished child falls prey to many diseases like malaria, measles, diarrhea etc. Most of the deaths of children below 5 years of age are reported to be due to Protein Energy Malnutrition.

Reasons behind hunger from the economic point of view are many, like poverty and uneven distribution of money which is a primary cause of hunger. Poverty means lack of resources and ability to purchase food. Since ages it has been seen the rich people have access to all resources and tend to become further rich whereas the poor become poorer.

Some other reasons include economic crisis across the world and inadequate supply of food due to neglect towards agriculture. Another major factor which adds to all these is the wastage of food across the world. Food wastage statistics are quite saddening. The trend of wasting food has crept slowly from rich countries like America to developing countries.

Wastage of food begins at the producer level (farmer) and continues through the distribution channel till the house hold level. If we add up the wastage at each level it shows a considerable amount which can perhaps save many children from malnourishment. Vegetables are stored to increase the price in the market and if in this process they are spoilt they are simply thrown away. A vegetable seller throws away huge quantities of vegetables at the end of day rather than selling them at a lower price just because he has to maintain the market price. Similarly distribution channels, publicize the damage to stored food to artificially increase the prices. Tons and tons of packed food just go as waste. The reason behind this is the expiry date. How nice it would have been if they could have planned and distributed them amongst the people living in slums just before reaching their expiry date.

Did you ever think before throwing food into the dustbin at the restaurant or at home? Now-a-days it is common to see heaps of wasted food dumped outside a reception hall or a restaurant. Food wastage at the house hold level has also become common these days. The wasted food is not only a problem to the environment but it also increases the number of street dogs, rats, bacteria etc thus spoiling the balance of ecosystem. Are we not contributing to hunger and imbalance in ecosystem?

Back in the olden days our grandparents used to teach us not to leave even a single particle of food. Evidence of this can be found in one of our great epics Mahabharata where Lord Krishna fills up his stomach with a single rice grain and asks Draupadi not to waste that. Social and moral values have vanished away as the earning capacity of a few people has increased. Can we not take steps to stop food wastage and save a child who is crying because of hunger?