Food Today

Ideally we eat food. Not too little, not too much, just enough. Our society today has been faced with what we should eat to maintain our health. There are various medical recommendations out there today regarding what to eat and what not to eat, most of them leaning on the side of the fresh food intake rather than the consumption of processed foods. What started out as a one-man idea is now an organization that is aimed at supporting businesses, which are committed to making certain changes within their societies.

Food has been used as a strategy to source for funds that will be used to give back to the society in any useful way. Cafes such as Old School hire disabled individuals to sell meal vouchers, whose proceeds go towards college scholarships. There is so much importance attached to food that a little mention of throwing it away can start great debates among the various people today. Past food, shortages have taught man to be more careful on how he makes use of the available food, when there is plenty around or when there is not. For instance the 500 diplomats, environment ministers, and other officials of the United Nations, who were treated to a formal dinner in Kenya, and were served food that was considered as surplus and was supposed to have been thrown away. Rejected food was fed high-ranking officials; something, which no one thought, could ever happen.

Various forums have been set up to campaign against the wastage of food. The Sustainable Foods Summit is currently doing an excellent job combating wastage in the food system. In countries such as the United States, it has been verify that at least 40% of the available food goes uneaten. This show how the availability of food is taken for granted in some areas, particularly those sectors are less likely to experience food shortages. This is happening despite the fact that a good portion of the American citizens lacks a secure food supply. Disposed food sent to landfills for an estimated 25% of the world's methane emissions, which are contributing to the current climate change. Food service providers have been identified as the chief weapon in combating food waste, together with various awareness-raising and educational cafeterias. ‘Low Carbon Diet Day' is celebrated each year, and the people are once again reminded of how their food choices have a significant bearing on climate change. Despite these efforts, food wastage is still inevitable, and the man is now working hard to keep it away from the landfill through feeding scraps to livestock, transforming the food waste into energy, and composting.

Other strategies such as the ‘Hidden Harvest Model' have worked to save produce from wastage while at the same time feeding the hungry. The model provides a solution to the problem of food wastage by giving millions of fruits and vegetables a second chance to many families. The program aims to gather and distribute fresh produce in an attempt to fight hunger. Much more emphasis needs to be given to the subject of food and food wastage. Despite the increasing importance of maintaining an adequate food supply across the globe, more programs and forums need to come up to join in the fight against food wastage.