An Epoch to Remember

This story may seem to be very common and simple but this was the bitter truth that awakened my thoughts.

This in the incident when I was in third standard i.e. approx. eight years old, blessed with full comforts and luxuries of life. I used to go to school with my school teacher on a rickshaw. One day after school time on my way back home, my teacher asked Munshi ji, the Rickshaw puller to stop in front of a huge building as she had some work there. While she had gone inside, I was sitting outside on the rickshaw, looking here and there, passing my time.

My eyes stopped for a fraction of a second at a point where an ill clad man, who appeared to be a beggar was picking up something and putting it in his mouth from a water drain pipe oozing out from a wall of another official building across the road. Those days there were no proper drainage system as today. Small outlets were constructed manually with an opening passing through the wall, outside into the streets. At the first glimpse I did not bother about it, but within a fraction of a second, I looked at him again as my small inquisitive brain tempted me to see as to what he was doing.  

He must have been hungry from days and so the sight of food must have heightened his hunger for he was speedily picking up the food from a drain and eating it up without wasting any time. It was a very upsetting. Various questions flashed across my mind. Why was he doing this? How can anyone eat from such a place? Someone who did not want to eat it must have thrown it to wash his lunch box.  My small brain got confused and I was unable to find any answer to it. Was the need and hunger of a man so strong that he had compromised with such a pathetic situation? He was so busy eating that he did not even care for the quality or hygiene of the food.

It was the first time when I had seen such a heart rending sight of extreme poverty and this incident which was now engraved in my mind left me disturbed with lots of emotions and feelings unknown as my tiny innocent brain could not believe this hard core truth even when I had visualised it with my own eyes. I kept thinking about him whereas the image of him eating from such a pathetic place had left me disturbed.

Even at dinner with my family, I could only peck at the food as that particular scene of the beggar kept haunting me. My mother who was already perturbed with my attitude since afternoon showed her concern and came near me. She compelled me to confide in her and tell her what was wrong and, her warm affectionate tone of love and concern made me burst out in tears and then I cried my heart out while narrating the entire incident. She sweetly smiled and patted me on my back.

It was then, when she explained why we are scolded when we leave food in our plates. She then placed one empty plate and bowl in the centre of the table and asked all five of us to put just one spoon of daal (curry), each, into that bowl. She put her share in the last. That bowl was full with those six spoons whereas our bowls were not even an inch lowered. She then, explained that if we share with others, we do not lose anything, instead we share it with someone who is much needier than us. This is why we should only take as much as we require and never waste anything because the thing that is a waste for us can be very useful for someone.

I am now forty eight years old and yet this particular incident is still engraved in my mind. I have narrated this a number of times to my children to make them realise the value of what we have and be contented with it. Poverty, still is a major topic of concern in the society. Poverty is the main cause of chronic hunger, and the inverse is also true - hunger traps people in poverty. When people are hungry, they are often in bad health, their children cannot concentrate in school and they lack the energy to lead productive lives.

Still I can see people throwing away food on to the streets, waste etc. Travellers who do not wish to eat food throw away packed food also. I have seen many picking them up to eat. Why this can’t be kept and given away to someone to eat. The same way Hotels, restaurants, be it big or small throw an exorbitant amount of food on daily basis. Is this what we call Humanity? This is a shame to our society where we are so selfish and uncaring.

We see the whole world through the lens of our own wants and desires.  Giving something up because it makes someone else happy requires a very big mental leap.  This means that we have to gently teach ourselves over and over to recognize and value the feelings of others. So, we must all consider our own actions and understand the value of sharing which is a boon in the society towards humanity and we all should be inextricably involved into it.

God has given us everything. He is so generous then how can we be so selfish to waste or throw anything that is not required by us. Why not give it to someone who might make the best use of it. Had the man not thrown that food into the drain, instead given it to that beggar to eat? Wouldn’t that have been a better preference to throwing it away?

Life is a lot better... a new start

A global shame

Where the world’s population is growing day by day, there agriculture is facing multiple challenges even today in the twenty first century: it has to produce more food and fibre to feed a growing population with a smaller rural labour force, despite of which people in some of the countries are suffering from starvation and malnutrition. There are around eight hundred and forty two million hungry people in the world and the global population is expected to rise from seven billion to nine billion by 2050 resulting into increase in the demand for food accordingly, implying to a significant increase in the production of several key commodities. Under all these circumstances and studies we all can see how large quantity of crops, cereals and food is wasted and destroyed by our government due to their negligence and carelessness. If we all together do not understand and work unitedly for this, our future generations shall face severe crises.

We must remember that there is enough food in the world

, more than enough. Yet billions are still starving.

Developing and developed countries account roughly evenly for the 1.3 billion tonnes of global food waste each year – but the nature of that wastage is very different. In developed countries, food is wasted throughout the supply chain, including at the consumption stage. Studies reveal that approx. one third of all the food produced in the world ends up being wasted somewhere along the production and consumption line. According to the UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation, , fifty percent of food waste occurs in the home: we throw away 7.2m tonnes of food and drink every year which means an average household is putting 217 kg into the dustbin, rising to 508 kg for families with children. The rest of the waste takes place back up the supply chain, mostly on farms, warehouses, cold storages, during transport and even in the stores.

We should keep it mind that the consequences of all this waste goes far beyond the burden on individual wallets – the land, water, fertilizers and labour that produces food is also wasted. Most waste occurs early in the production chain, affecting millions of smallholders. Due to poor harvesting facilities, storage, packaging, distribution and the lack of a stable infrastructure also causes significant losses, reducing income and exacerbating local food insecurity.

The bitter reality is that food waste is a global shame, especially in a world in which over a billion people are starving. And yet: everybody is waiting for somebody else to take action. We all are happy with ourselves, ignoring those who are a prey to our deeds. Can we send our leftovers to starving children in Africa where people are starving? The amount of food lost per year in sub-Saharan Africa could feed 48 million people.

Globally, the production is good enough food to feed 3 billion people but over thirty percent of the world's food supply is wasted. The annual food waste in Italy could feed 44 million people – all of Ethiopia's undernourished population. The annual food waste in France is enough to feed the entire population of the Democratic Republic of Congo. Just five per cent of United States' food waste could feed 4 million people for one day. In 2011, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon noted that there is enough food in the world, yet millions are still starving – and unless we all join hands to take action, we cannot reach to any consensus.

Who is to blame?
So, who should we point the finger at? Who is to blame? The industry? The politicians? The farmers? The retailers? No! We all are to blame as everybody is waiting for someone else to take action for it.

This global food waste scandal is a self-perpetuating system where we all have to awaken our minds and start acting accordingly.

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