WASTEWORLD

So first of, yes. I LOVE Westworld..

We're facing a lot of problems and I'm not here to state them all but something that drives me crazy is the amount of food waste. It's an issue I really care about and I can't pinpoint why. I've never lacked for food but somehow this issue has been deeply engraved in me. I was raised to always finish my plate.. like I'm sure a lot of us but somehow it crushes my soul to see food left behind (I'm not even going to start on Las Vegas). I will always find a way to make something out of whatever left in the fridge because I simply can't bare throwing food out. I also think I've developed a really strong tummy. I've always thought I was helping by simply not wasting the food I had cooked or making sure I cooked something before it spoiled. Kind of like that person that wants to recycle but has no F#$^^& clue what goes where (yeah that used to be me...)

But I learned that in reality, the fight begins with our perception of what is right to eat.

The (food waste) problem actually comes in different forms.

"Grocery stores and restaurants serve more than 400 million pounds of food each year, but nearly a third of it is never eaten. Demand for pre-cooked meals and pristine produce creates much waste"*.

(Source NPR)
(Photos Credit Huffington Post)

So how does this affect us? For starters, it's morally WRONG. We're overproducing/over consuming and it's sickening to be a part of the problem, especially if you have travelled to third world countries. But also, this has a huge economic impact on our society. We are literally throwing money in the garbage.

According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations:

" - Roughly one third of the food produced in the world for human consumption every year — approximately 1.3 billion tonnes — gets lost or wasted.

• Food losses and waste amounts to roughly US$ 680 billion in industrialized countries and US$ 310 billion in developing countries.
• Industrialized and developing countries dissipate roughly the same quantities of food — respectively 670 and 630 million tonnes.
• Fruits and vegetables, plus roots and tubers have the highest wastage rates of any food.
• Global quantitative food losses and waste per year are roughly 30% for cereals, 40-50% for root crops, fruits and vegetables, 20% for oil seeds, meat and dairy plus 35% for fish.
• Every year, consumers in rich countries waste almost as much food (222 million tonnes) as the entire net food production of sub-Saharan Africa (230 million tonnes).
• The amount of food lost or wasted every year is equivalent to more than half of the world's annual cereals crop (2.3 billion tonnes in 2009/2010).
• Per capita waste by consumers is between 95-115 kg a year in Europe and North America, while consumers in sub-Saharan Africa, south and south-eastern Asia, each throw away only 6-11 kg a year."**

Sick right? So, if you are like me and you want to make this world a better place, let's address this and start making small changes.

*http://www.fao.org/food-loss-and-food-waste/en/
**https://www.npr.org/2014/11/19/365151051/consumers-contribute-to-retail-food-waste