Throwing away unwanted food has become a big issue in the world. While some of us throw away unwanted items, people in other parts of the world face food shortages and are starving. It's a shocking fact that a third of the world's food is wasted each year, which is enough to feed a billion hungry people.
You may think supermarkets are the main contributors to this mountain of food. After all, they do desert stuff that is past its sell-by-date and they often refuse to sell fruits or vegetables that are in the wrong shape or look damaged. They've also been criticized for encouraging customers to buy more than they need through promotions such as “buy one and get one free”.
But the biggest culprit for creating food waste is us human beings. In Europe, an incredible 53% of food waste comes from households, which results in 88 million tons of food waste a year. So instead of filling our bellies, our food is filling up landfill sites.
In Denmark, a woman called Selina Juul has been working hard to solve this problem. She moved from Russia many years ago and was amazed to see the abundance of food available in the supermarkets. But despite so much availability, she found that people were buying more than they needed and throwing too much away.
She convinced some supermarkets to stop selling their items in bulk (大量) so that people bought only what they needed. She produced a leftover cookbook and set up an education program in schools, which has helped create a significant 25% reduction in food waste.
Clearly, we need to think twice when we buy something in supermarkets or online, and when we're at home we should make the most of the food we have — using recipes that use up our leftovers or even sharing our remaining food with our friends and neighbors.
