WASTAGE OF FOOD IN INDIA

                                              

India is the 3^rd largest food producer in the world. India prides itself to be the world’s largest producer of many food items, but still 1/3^rd of the Indian population is mal-nourished and starving. When there is enough food production, why so many are mal-nourished and starved and why is there a high rate of inflation of food products? The reason is plain and simple. We WASTE FOOD. Wasting food, does that point out individuals alone? Not only individuals, but the Government also need to be blamed as well for being so lethargic over such a prominent issue the country is facing today. Food Shortage in India is caused by government control, lazy, corrupt and irresponsible bureaucrats and poor practice of storage and distribution of the food.

           

Statistics say only 7% of the food is processed in India. Food and vegetables worth 350 billion rupees go waste in India every year.20% of the total food produced is eaten by the rodents. We have a long way to go. There has to be a massive investment to give the food processing a big boost. Why has the government not taken measures to check the wastage of food? Or the government thinks that it’s not the duty of the government to care about issues like this? It is high time that the Government start taking measures to improve the warehouses as well as set cold storage facilities. The grains not dried properly after harvests are vulnerable to fungal infections. The cold storage infrastructure is more relevant to handling of horticultural produce which is vulnerable to spoilage due to their high degree of perishability. If the cold storage and frozen food distribution facilities are strengthened, spoilage of fruits and vegetables can be reduced significantly. If the infrastructures of the warehouses for grains are improved to international levels, the government can easily check the wastage of food. Sheer will and vision from the government’s side can help check the wastage of food products, thereby reducing the scarcity and controlling the food inflation.  

                                                                                                                                

Another reason for the inflating food prices are the so called big fat Indian weddings. Today weddings have become status symbols and media does its part perfectly to influence even middle classes for grandiose weddings. There are several weddings in India, especially the weddings of rich people serves more than 5 courses of meal with several varieties in each course. Weddings act as a right spot for spending the black money accumulated by the rich people. In due course of time, a grand wedding has become an order of the day in India. So much food is wasted in these weddings, and it becomes impossible for reducing the wastage of food, since one cannot predict the exact turn out ratio of the guests. What can be done is, they can reduce the number of courses served in the weddings and the number of varieties as well. If there are still leftovers, they can find proper means to distribute them to the poor and needy. Before planning for grandiose weddings, just think about the fellow Indians who are starving. We should go by Gandhi’s saying,” The rich should live simpler so that the poor could live simply”

Grand Wedding Dinner

Food Wastage

                                                                                

For a trillion dollar economy like India, the Government should have taken steps for basic necessities like this. At least now, the Government should wake up and take this matter very seriously and should take necessary measures to reduce the wastage of food. If not, food crisis in India in the near future will become unavoidable, which will make the economy of our country go shambles.


Let we individuals take an oath from our side, that we will not waste the food kept on our plates. It is a small but a remarkable initiative from our side to reduce the wastage of food! If many of us join together to work against the food wastage, we can make a big difference. Remember, “The journey of thousand miles start with a single step”.
This is not only an economic issue involving money, but also a social issue involving the lives of millions of people. Controlling wastage of food products in India is the order of the day. Allowing FDIs in food processing industry looks like a promising initiative, but we need to wait to see, how well it is going to be implemented!!  


Poornima