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According to the British Institution of Mechanical Engineers the total production of food in the word lie around 4 billion tons which is enough to feed the entire population of the earth. Though up to fifty percent of it is wasted, mostly due to issues during harvesting, storage and transport. Since food attempts to rot at all time, you’ve got to counteract this process by drying and/or cooling, though this is not always as effective. The food that makes it to the store is sorted again, due to EU marketing rules, yielding only the food which is cosmetically attractive enough to be put on display. Aid agencies, too, have used the information published here and in several reports to reveal the huge misplacement of food around the world. Food which could’ve been used to feed the remaining 2.3 million children around the world who die every year due to a lack of food. Though the figures look negative, a positive message is to be found. The solution to hunger might not come as previously expected through increased food production, but possibly from reduced food waste. If estimates are true, and the global population peaks at 9.5 billion people, the food production today should be feasible to feed the world if food wastage is reduced.
If there is a bright light in the distance symbolizing the end of starvation there is still quite a long way there. The future in which no children starves is a distant one, though still one which can be caught up with if enough work is done.
With our current society revolving around innovation, we have come to the conclusion that the less fortunate of us need and in some cases, if we’ve caused the problem, have the right to help from our side. We’ve evoked aid agencies with government support to solve their needs and have mostly succeeded in the reduction of starvation, though we still have a few individuals left and we have the resources. As mentioned in the report: “The aid agency Save the Children says there is enough food in the world to feed every child - but still 2.3 million children die as a result of hunger every year.” We’ve done a lot, though we can still do better. A reduction in food waste not only helps the remaining people but helps the western societies in the elimination of plastic in the sea, financial resources and animal population in the cities. The reduction of food waste leads to less wastage going in the oceans, thus reducing the well-known splotches of garbage floating at sea. The financial resources put into food production will be reduced since less cleanup and garbage collection is needed. At last, the population of animals living off garbage, such as rats and racoons, will, too, decrease as a result of their primary food source being eliminated.
Though, if we return to our main problem in our way to the demise of starvation, we find the obstacle lie with the ones buying the food in the first place. The costumers of the shops, us. Our perspectives and attitudes concerning expiration dates are completely out of context and most of us don’t even know what we are talking about according to: “Foods You Are Probably Throwing Away Too Early” by Alexandra Stifferlin. In the article, it’s stated that people mistake expiration dates with dangers and food safety. As stated by Emily Brad Leib, co-author: “We have become so divorced from production of food and farming that we think food is only going to be fresh for a short amount of time”, yielding the fact that we have no experience knowing when food is too old and when not. The solution to our food wastage problem would come as another marking on the food package indicating the last date to be eaten based on health and safety concerns.
A last solution to the problem at hand would be a change in the EU marketing laws and regulations. As stated in the report and video, the EU marketing laws require supermarkets to sort the acquired food to yield only the cosmetically attractive and presentable food. If these regulations would be changed or the minimums lowered, the supermarkets would be of ability to sell more of the bought food and thus minimizing food wastage.
In conclusion we find the world has enough food production to sustain its entire population, though the resources and the food is misplaced resulting in the starvation of children around the world. Though this is a problem, many actions have been taken to decrease the amount of starving individuals and to some extend with success. The primary problem lies with us, the costumers of the supermarkets and the stores. Our faulty perspectives and attitudes towards expiration dates causing high amounts of food waste to be produced. A decrease is possible and the most feasible solution would be regulating the food packaging and EU laws about marketing concerning food in supermarkets and stores.