essay on food wastage in india

Essay on Food Wastage in India

Students are often asked to write an essay on Food Wastage in India in their schools and colleges. And if you’re also looking for the same, we have created 100-word, 250-word, and 500-word essays on the topic.

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100 Words Essay on Food Wastage in India

The problem of food wastage.

India, a country with a rich diversity of food, unfortunately, faces a high rate of food wastage. Despite millions going hungry, a considerable amount of food is wasted daily.

Causes of Food Wastage

Major reasons include inefficient supply chains, lack of storage facilities, and consumer behavior. Often, food is wasted due to overproduction or not being consumed before expiration.

Impacts of Food Wastage

Food wastage not only implies the loss of resources but also exacerbates hunger and poverty. It also contributes to environmental problems, like increased greenhouse gas emissions.

Solutions to Food Wastage

Improved storage, better supply chain management, and consumer education can significantly reduce food wastage. Everyone has a role to play in minimizing this problem.

250 Words Essay on Food Wastage in India

Introduction, the magnitude of the problem.

India ranks 94th out of 107 countries in the Global Hunger Index 2020, indicating a serious level of hunger. Simultaneously, it is estimated that nearly 40% of the food produced in India is wasted. The irony of this situation is overwhelming.

Factors contributing to food wastage in India are diverse. At the agricultural level, inadequate storage facilities and inefficient supply chains lead to substantial post-harvest losses. On the consumer end, a culture of excess and lack of awareness about the implications of food waste contribute to the problem.

Implications and Solutions

The implications of food wastage are far-reaching, from economic loss to environmental impact. Addressing this issue requires a multi-pronged approach. Better infrastructure for storage and transport, improved supply chain management, and consumer education can significantly reduce food wastage.

Food wastage in India is a paradox in a country grappling with malnutrition and hunger. It demands immediate attention and action from all stakeholders. By addressing this issue, we can ensure food security, economic efficiency, and environmental sustainability.

500 Words Essay on Food Wastage in India

Food wastage is a global problem, but its magnitude in India is particularly alarming. Despite being one of the world’s largest food producers, India is also a leading contributor to food wastage. As per the United Nations Development Programme, up to 40% of the food produced in India is wasted. This essay explores the reasons behind this issue and potential solutions.

Reasons for Food Wastage

The causes of food wastage in India are multifaceted, ranging from agricultural practices to consumer behavior. Inefficient farming methods, lack of proper storage facilities, and inadequate supply chain management result in significant post-harvest losses. At the consumer end, a culture of excess, coupled with a lack of awareness about the implications of food wastage, exacerbates the problem.

Impact of Food Wastage

The implications of food wastage are not just economic but also environmental and social. Wasted food decomposes in landfills, releasing methane, a potent greenhouse gas. The water, energy, and resources used in producing the wasted food are also squandered, leading to environmental degradation. Socially, the food wastage problem highlights the inequity in food distribution and access.

Proposed Solutions

At the consumer end, awareness campaigns about the implications of food wastage can bring about a change in behavior. Implementing food recovery programs, such as food banks, can ensure surplus food reaches those in need rather than going to waste.

In a country where millions still suffer from malnutrition, the issue of food wastage in India cannot be ignored. It requires concerted efforts from all stakeholders, including the government, private sector, and individuals. Through a combination of better farming practices, improved supply chain management, and changes in consumer behavior, India can significantly reduce food wastage, moving towards a more sustainable and equitable food system.

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Essay on Food Wastage for Students and Children in 1100 Words

In this article, we have published and Essay on Food Wastage for Students and Children in 1100 Words. It includes details about food wastage in India and Worldwide where it happens, effects, its solution with opinion.

Table of Contents

Introduction (Essay on Food Wastage – 1100 Words)

Wastage of food in india and worldwide.

As per a report by the World Food Organization, each seventh individual rests hungry. We can halt waste if, at that point, many individuals can be taken care.

According to some researches and findings by the report of the World Food Organization, consistently, food worth rupees fifty thousand crores go into the nation which is 40% of the nation’s creation.

Wastage of food in Parties & Functions 

We are, mostly, mindful of the wastage of food occurring in our weddings, or celebrations. On these events, a ton of food goes into the trash.

Effect of Food Wastage 

In the present time, food squander presents many difficulties. We can see the impact of food wastage all over the place – 

Right approach to keep food & its proper use 

They squander the absence of food because of the non-upkeep of products of the soil. On the off chance that this transpires, at that point you should prepare yourself for it. 

Ways to avoid food wastage (Solutions)

1. cook as much food as you need , 2. check what’s in your capacity .

Go to your washroom and cooler and see what nourishments you as of now have. It very well may be of two sorts. First there is nothing that will turn sour.

3. You should know when your food will ruin 

4. eat your extras .

There are a few people who have no issue eating extra food, and afterward, there are a few people who are not careless about it. I am not saying that you need to cherish the extras yet if you have made extra, at that point, eat them later. 

5. Use each piece 

6. give what you need , 7. use squander sagaciously .

For instance, in certain nations like Japan, squander is ordered and used unexpectedly. In this way, we cut food squander into small pieces in industrial facilities and either deteriorated into plant food or covered in landfills to create methane gas, the wellspring of fuel. 

8. Quickly evacuate terrible vegetables and leaves: 

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Food Wastage in India: Current Status, Reasons, and Way Forward

Recently, the Food Waste Index 2024 was published by the United Nations Environment Programme .

Introduction to Food

• Divine Substance: Upanishads written in 700 BC are the essence of our Vedic knowledge. Food is considered a divine substance.
• Value of Food: Our ancestors knew the importance of food thousands of years ago, and we have all forgotten it today. Food is not just a source of nourishment but also a gift from nature that should be cherished and respected.
• Treatment towards food: The way we treat food reflects our attitude towards life and the environment

Current State of Food Wastage

• Meanwhile, 80 crore people in the world go to sleep daily without food.
• Effect of Food Wastage: Food wastage contributes to environmental degradation, climate change, and economic losses.

Food Wastage in India

• Data on Food Wastage in India: 78 million food is wasted every year in Indian households.
• Rank of India in Food Wastage : India ranks 111 out of 125 countries in Global Hunger Index .
• Enough to Feed a State: The amount of food wasted in India annually can feed the state of Bihar for a year
• Reasons for Food Wastage: Food wastage in India is a complex issue that involves social, cultural, and economic factors.

Food Wastage in Developing Countries

• Food Wastage in Developing Countries: Food wastage becomes more complicated in developing countries
• This leads to up to 40% food wastage
• Lack of Infrastructure: Lack of proper infrastructure, cold storage facilities, and transportation networks contribute to food losses
• Limited Resources: Smallholder farmers in developing countries are particularly vulnerable to food wastage due to limited resources and market access.

Reasons for Food Wastage at the Household Level Careless attitude towards food

Thinking there is excess food in the world

• Cultural factors: such as considering a heavy plate as a symbol of prosperity.
• Ordering of Extra Food: I ncreased food ordering through apps like Zomato and Swiggy.
• Poor Meal Planning: Poor meal planning and impulse buying leading to overbuying and spoilage.

Food Wastage at Social Gatherings

• Food Wastage in Social Gatherings: Food wastage at social gatherings like wedding functions has emerged as a big challenge.
• Status Symbol: People prepare different varieties of food to show off , while consumption is very low, and the rest is simply thrown away.
• Social Pressure: Social pressure to serve abundant food and the fear of running short contribute to over-preparation.
• Inadequate Planning: Lack of proper planning and coordination among event organizers, caterers, and guests leads to food wastage. The trend of lavish and extravagant weddings has exacerbated the problem of food wastage.

Urban-Rural Divide and Climate Change

• Urban vs Rural Area: More food is wasted in urban areas, while less in rural areas because leftovers are fed to animals.
• Climate change exacerbates food wastage by affecting crop yields, causing supply chain disruptions, and altering food quality. 
• Urban Lifestyle issue: Urban lifestyles, characterized by busy schedules and eating out, contribute to higher food wastage.
• Traditional Practice by Rural Communities: Rural communities often have traditional food preservation practices and utilization of leftovers.

Way Forward 

• Setting of Reduction Targets: Prioritize the problem of food wastage and set clear reduction targets at national and global levels.
• Promoting Sustainable practices: Promote sustainable food production and consumption through education and awareness campaigns.

To save food wastage in India , encourage donation and redistribution programs to ensure excess food reaches those in need.  Implement effective food waste management systems, i ncluding composting and waste-to-energy solutions.

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Food Wastage in India 2024: From Farm to Bin, Hidden Truth

• May 29, 2024
• Environment

India is a country of rich heritage with abundant culture, flavours and cuisines. Yet it is grappling with a serious issue that impacts nearly 23 crore people living in the country – Food Wastage in India. The Ministry of Agriculture, India reported that nearly 50,000 INR crores worth of food gets wasted each year.

This alarming amount of food that is getting wasted every single day in a country where millions of people still go to bed hungry each night is an appalling reality that demands our immediate attention and action. Come with us to know the food wastage facts in India.

Magnitude of the Problem-food waste in india statistics 2023

According to the UNEP’s (United Nations Environment Programme) food wastage index report, 68.7 million tonnes of food is wasted annually in Indian homes, in simple words it is about 55 kgs per person. It stands 2 nd worldwide in terms of household wastage of food only followed by China.

A report by the National Resources Defence Council (NDRC) says that 40% of the food produced goes uneaten in the US, whereas in Asia, approx 1.34 billion tonnes of food gets wasted; the main contributors being India and China.

The FSSAI (Food Safety and Standards Authority of India) reported that 1/3 rd of all food produced in India gets wasted or spoilt before it is even eaten. This is a very serious concern as it comes to show that people not only waste the food deliberately but aren’t even aware of it.

But what are the reasons for this staggering amount of wastage?

Causes of Food Wastage in India

Post-harvest losses.

Believe it or not, a large quantity of food gets wasted even before it reaches the consumer’s plate. Right after harvest, the food commodities begin to deteriorate in quality if they are not handled properly. This includes poor transportation facilities, overloading in warehouses, the warehouses being maintained very poorly and finally improper handling during distribution.

Lack of awareness

Be it eating from restaurants or at home, most people think it is okay to waste food because they have paid for it. Of course, the restaurants or vendors will not be facing any loss as they are charging us, consumers, for the same, but the real cost is to the economy and the planet . The food that was wasted because we couldn’t priorly plan if we could consume it or not; would land in the trash, thus not being of any use to anybody.

The Big Fat Weddings

India is famously known for its ultra-grand weddings throwing extravagance wherever possible but what it is not known for is that it is one of the leading causes of food wastage. Enormous amounts of food go to waste during such occasions. According to research, about 40% of the food prepared goes to waste and is simply thrown away after the wedding ends.

Market needs

One of the most problematic causes of food wastage these days is the usage of edible foods in markets such as Cosmetics, Healthcare etc., When the foods do not comply to the standards set by these markets they would straight up get rejected although they are perfectly edible. This is a grave mistake that would cost the economy largely.

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Consequences of Food Waste

Hunger & malnutrition.

The leading consequence of food wastage on the country is its direct contribution to malnutrition and starvation. According to a report released by Feeding India, around 194.4 million people or 14.3% of the population are not receiving adequate nutrition. India is also ranked in the 111 th position out of 125 countries in the Global Hunger Index, 2023.

Global Impact

Food waste in India is not just a national issue; it also affects the planet on a large scale as food is a universal commodity and is not just restricted to people of a particular country. The environmental hazards associated with the wastage are also immense resulting in the emission of unnecessary carbon that could result in a devastating note.

Economic Loss

In India, 40% of the food wasted is equivalent to nearly 92,000 crore/year. This is equivalent to nearly 1% of the GDP which is depleted in the form of food wastage in India. Each person in India wastes 55 kg of food per year as per UN Environment Programme’s report .

What might look like a harmless wastage of food deeply impacts the agricultural sector and affects the nation’s economy. We also need to keep in mind that it is not just the food that is getting wasted but also all the resources such as water, land, energy and most importantly the hard labour of the farmers and all the people involved in the production of food. This is the food wastage statistics in India.

Efforts to Reduce Wastage

Here is some food waste management in India through some acts and government policies.

Streamlining the Supply Chain

Food Wastage can be greatly reduced by putting in place efficient supply-chain practices such as cold storage facilities and better inventory management.

Effective Management of Excess Food

In case of excess food remaining after weddings or other big social gatherings, it must be redirected to NGOs or organizations involved in distributing the food to people in need.

Govt. Policies

The Government must take proper measures to sign policies in association with the Food & Agriculture Organization ( FAO ) and the United Nations to curb national food wastage and encourage citizens to reduce wastage by offering rewards.

Some Startups Tackling Food Wastage in India

This Delhi based startup collects food by-products and other surplus raw materials from food producers and converts them to high-value nutrition rich innovative bakery feed ingredients for animals. This not only helps maintain a sustainable economy but also majorly eliminates wastage of valuable resources.

• 25 Profitable Agriculture Business Ideas with low investment

GreenPod Labs

Founded in 2019, this Chennai based startup offers Nature-inspired solutions to food wastage by developing active packaging sachets which have in-built defence mechanisms for fruits and vegetables to preserve their quality and slow down their ripening process. This concept is driven by the mission to curb post-harvest losses in India as despite being the second-largest producer of fruits & vegetables in the world, nearly 40% of the fresh produce grown gets spoilt before it even reaches the consumers.

By coming across such inspiring Indian startups, it shows that when the right measures are implemented, it is indeed possible for India too to reduce wastage and uplift the agricultural economy. At this point, you don’t need to think about how to prevent food wastage in India. These companies have done everything from your side.

• How Two Brothers started organic business and make million dollor
• Bharat Agri Startup: Unleashing Agricultural Innovation

Conclusion:

One of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals is –

By 2030, halve per capita global food waste at the retail and consumer levels and reduce food losses along production and supply chains, including post-harvest losses.

Would we as fellow Indians contribute to the goal? Well, it’s about time we did!

Food wastage is an economic and environmental crisis that needs our immediate attention and to combat this issue, every Indian must work towards it. In a country where food is worshipped close to God, it is high time we take ownership of our consumption and be more self-aware about it.

As much as it is a right for every citizen to eat good food, it is also our responsibility not to waste it. Here’s to making India a more sustainable and self-sufficient country!

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Food Loss and Waste in India: The Knowns and The Unknowns

The estimated economic value of post-harvest losses in India was INR 926.51 billion (USD 15.19 billion) in 2014. While this is an underestimation of overall food loss and waste in India, India ranks only 94th out of 107 countries on the 2020 Global Hunger Index. Any amount of food loss and waste is a wasted opportunity to increase food availability, improve income, easing pressure on land and water resources, and reducing GHGs.

This Working Paper is part of Food Loss & Waste Protocol within Food , and Food Loss and Waste . Reach out to an Initiative Expert for more information.

Key Findings

• Research on food loss and waste in India is mainly focused on the quantity of post-harvest loss.
• The existing data on losses are not comparable due to differences in measurement metrics. Hotspots and critical loss points in food supply chains need to be identified using a standardized approach.
• Empirical research on food waste is very scarce. Data on food waste at household level is almost nonexistent.
• The social, economic, and environmental aspects of food loss and waste in India are largely unexplored. Gender-disaggregated research on food loss and waste is neither available nor considered in improving technology or in solutions for its management.

Executive Summary

Reducing food loss and waste is recognized globally as an opportunity to address food and nutrition insecurity and reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions while also advancing economic development. The recent EAT-Lancet Commissions’ report (EAT 2019) identifies large reductions in food loss and waste as a crucial dimension of sustainable food systems in order to achieve healthy diets for 10 billion people by 2050. The significance of reducing food loss and waste for improving social, economic, and environment outcomes is also recognized in Target 12.3 of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which calls for reducing food loss and halving food waste by 2030. In recognition of its importance, significant strategies have been developed to minimize food loss and waste at the global level.

The paper presents the results of a systematic analysis of 106 peer-reviewed and gray literature publications, as well as consultations with sectoral experts. This study was undertaken by the World Resources Institute India (WRI India) and the Food and Land Use (FOLU) Coalition’s India platform to understand the magnitude of, and identify the hotspots and critical loss points of food loss and waste in India; identify the strategies and interventions implemented to date; highlight the gaps in research, policy, and practice; and suggest some next steps.

The paper highlights significant gaps in research, policy, and practice which need to be addressed systematically to manage food loss and waste in India. We outline some practical recommendations for moving forward:

• Adopting a standard metric for estimating food loss and waste will help generate comparable data from different studies across time and geographies and hence will be more useful for decision-makers, the private sector, and civil society. The global Food Loss and Waste Accounting and Reporting Standard developed by the FLW Protocol could be adopted in India.
• Put the issue of food loss and waste on the research agenda at all levels in India. The research agenda needs to include estimation of food waste nationally, as well as the social, economic, and environmental impact of food loss and waste.
• Create awareness and mobilize a movement for reducing food loss and waste in India that embraces diverse stakeholders.
• foster collaboration and partnerships to manage food loss and waste,
• prioritize the research agenda on food loss and waste in India,
• develop strategies and mobilize action, and
• support policy development and implementation for sustainable food and land-use systems.

Connected to this report

There’s no time, or food, to waste, by the numbers: the business case for reducing food loss and waste, a 10-step plan for the world to cut food loss and waste in half by 2030.

Food Loss & Waste Protocol

Addressing the challenges of quantifying food loss and waste.

Champions 12.3

Inspiring ambition and mobilizing action to reduce food loss and waste globally.

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Food waste in Indian households: status and potential solutions

• Short Research and Discussion Article
• Open access
• Published: 15 November 2023
• Volume 30 , pages 124401–124406, ( 2023 )

Cite this article

You have full access to this open access article

• Samant Shant Priya 1 ,
• Sushil Kumar Dixit 2 ,
• Sajal Kabiraj   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-9567-6665 3 &
• Meenu Shant Priya 4  

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A Correction to this article was published on 27 November 2023

This article has been updated

According to a report by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), India had the highest number of undernourished people in the world in 2020. The COVID-19 pandemic further exacerbated the problem of world hunger (WHO 2021 ). According to the Food Waste Index Report, 2021, by United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and The Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP), 931 million tonnes of food waste was produced in 2019, with households accounting for 61%, food services for 26%, and retail for 13%. The report estimates that Indian households generate 50 kg of food waste per capita per year, resulting in total of 68,760,163 tonnes annually. This study aimed to investigate the reasons for food waste in Indian households and potential solutions to minimize or control food waste using interpretive phenomenological analysis. Reasons for food waste include miscalculations in meal preparation, a lack of appreciation for food, and a weakening of traditional Indian value systems. The study identified two potential solutions for controlling or eliminating food waste: exploring alternative methods of food consumption and enhancing the family culture surrounding food. The study results could potentially guide policymakers and planners in designing policies to address the problem of food waste in Indian households.

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Introduction

The United Nations (UN) introduced the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in 2015 to address poverty and environmental concerns, and promote peace and prosperity (UN 2015 ). SDG 12 specifically focuses on responsible consumption and production, with goal 12.3 aiming to reduce global per capita food waste by half by 2030. The Zero Hunger Challenge, launched by the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in 2012, aims to eliminate food insecurity and malnutrition while building sustainable food systems (UN 2012 ). If current trends continue, however, the number of people affected by hunger is expected to surpass 840 million by 2030. Minimizing food losses during production, storage, transport, and consumption, empowering consumer choice, and ensuring commitment by producers, retailers, and consumers are all crucial to meeting the Zero Hunger Challenge (James et al. 2020 ). Chronic malnutrition has increased in many parts of the world including most Indian states, and malnourished children are more vulnerable to illness and disease (Bhargava and Bhargava 2021 ; FAO 2021 ; World Bank 2020 ). The Executive Director of the UNEP, Inger Andersen, emphasized the significance of reducing food waste in addressing global issues such as climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution and waste, and that it is essential for businesses, governments, and individuals to play their part in minimizing food waste to combat these challenges (UNEP 2020 ).

The terms food loss, food waste, biowaste, and kitchen waste are used interchangeably (Gjerris and Gaiani 2013 ). Thyberg and Tonjes ( 2016 ) classify food waste into two types: food loss and food waste. Food loss refers to any edible food that goes uneaten at any stage, including crops left in the field, food that spoils during transit, and food that does not make it to a store, in addition to uneaten food in households and businesses. Food waste, on the other hand, refers to food that is discarded or uneaten after it has been purchased or served, and it can occur at any stage of the food chain. Examples of food waste include unconsumed meals in restaurants, leftovers from home-cooked meals, and spoiled food (FoodPrint 2018 ). The European Commission ( 2014 ) categorizes food waste into three types: food losses, unavoidable food waste, and avoidable food waste.

The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) defines food waste and food loss as:

“a decrease in quantity or quality of food. Food waste is part of food loss and refers to discarding or alternative (non-food) use of food that is safe and nutritious for human consumption along the entire food supply chain, from primary production to end household consumer level” (FAO 2011 ).

According to the Global Hunger Index (2021), India ranks 101 out of 116 countries measured in 2021. The amount of food waste in India is equivalent to the amount of food consumed by the United Kingdom (Sinha and Tripathi 2021 ). In light of these findings, this study aims to qualitatively investigate the factors that contribute to food waste in Indian households and propose potential solutions to mitigate the issue. While extensive literature on food waste exists, most of it focuses on the Western world, leaving a knowledge gap regarding developing economies such as India. Food waste is a complex phenomenon that is heavily influenced by contextual factors like value system, affordability, availability, value system etc. Additionally, it is frequently attributed to individual cognitive and behavioural choices. However, limited research has been conducted to examine the lived experiences of families in terms of food and its waste. Therefore, this study seeks to explore the core aspects and lived experiences of food waste in Indian households.

The research questions that guide this exploration include: "What is the experience of food waste among Indian households?"; "What are the factors that contribute to food waste in Indian households?"; and "What is the best solution for reducing food waste in Indian households?" By addressing these questions, the study hopes to provide valuable insights into how to minimize or control food waste in Indian households, which can inform policymakers in designing effective policies and programs.

The present study adopts a qualitative research approach to investigate the factors affecting food waste in Indian households. Qualitative research aims to reveal the meaning and experience of people's lives and social environments (Fossey et al. 2002 ), making it a suitable method for exploring complex issues such as food waste. Qualitative researchers use naturalistic inquiry to inductively examine real-world environments and develop rich narrative descriptions (Patton 2005 ). In this study, we employ phenomenology as the specific qualitative research method, which focuses on the lived experiences of a few individuals and their perceptions of these experiences to generate significant insights (Thompson 1997 ). Creswell and Poth ( 2016 ) suggest that phenomenology can be used to investigate complex topics with limited literature. Through semi-structured interviews, we aim to explore the phenomenon of food waste experienced in Indian households within the context of their food consumption. Our use of qualitative analysis facilitates a thorough investigation of the problem and may lead to the development of a theoretical framework (Miles and Huberman 1994 ). To understand the factors that contribute to food waste, we analysed participants' perspectives gathered through semi-structured interviews.

For the current study, respondents from the National Capital Region (NCR) in India were selected. This region was selected due to its diverse population in terms of income, age, education, religious and cultural background, as well as regional affiliations. The researcher collected data from respondents from Delhi, Noida, Gurgaon, and Ghaziabad with varied gender, age, and occupational distribution. All interviews were recorded except for five participants who declined to be recorded, and the researcher simultaneously made notes during the conversations. Initially, twenty samples were recruited for the study, but the researchers ceased data collection at the thirteenth interview, as the emergence of novel data and themes had ceased. This was considered indicative of reaching saturation point, which is regarded as the ‘gold standard’ in qualitative inquiry (Fusch and Ness 2015 ; Guest et al. 2006 ). In this study, data saturation was reached at thirteen interviews, which is consistent with previous studies by Guest et al. ( 2006 ) and Francis et al. ( 2010 ), where data saturation was reached at twelve and seventeen interviews, respectively.

To investigate the lived experiences of food waste in Indian households, semi-structured, open-ended, and in-depth interviews were conducted. Prior to data collection, an initial conceptual framework, interview guide, and a set of research questions were developed following Miles and Huberman's (1994) recommendations. The study’s objectives and adaptive decision-making model conceptual framework were used to define the scope of the investigation and prevent superfluous data accumulation. The interview guide consisted of twelve questions that focused on food waste, feelings about food waste, and the reasons for and possible solutions to food waste. Respondents were approached in their homes and given a general overview of the study's purpose before commencing the interview. The interviews, which lasted between 20 and 65 minutes, were conducted in the local language and recorded for later transcription and translation into English. The transcripts were reviewed for accuracy, ensuring that the participants' viewpoints were not lost in translation.

To protect the privacy of participants, they were informed that their interviews and collected information would be kept confidential. The researchers obtained consent from the participants for using the collected data in academic publications. To ensure the participants' anonymity, the researchers used pseudonyms and removed any data that could reveal their identities The data was stored in a password-protected folder, and participants were instructed to contact the researchers if they felt uncomfortable during or after the interviews.

The researchers employed interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) as recommended by Smith et al. ( 2022 ) to analyze the interview transcripts. The analysis began with a comprehensive review and re-reading of the transcripts to gain a general understanding of the participants' stories and to identify any emerging themes or novel information. Titles were assigned to the emerging themes, and the themes were abstracted while preserving the participants' original accounts. The subsequent step involved documenting the emerging themes and consolidating them to obtain the core of the participants' experiences with food waste. The authors then independently identified clusters of related themes across the transcripts, which were compiled into a list of master themes to ensure face validity. Finally, all authors revised the master and subordinate themes to ensure that the analysis accurately reflected the participants' narratives.

Three master themes emerged from this analysis: Feelings about food waste, reasons for food waste, and how to avoid or eliminate food waste .

The various themes emerged are listed in Table 1 .

Theme1: Emotional Distress

This theme revolved around the emotional distress associated with food wastage. All the participants who took part in the study expressed significant concern regarding food waste in Indian households. It can be concluded that nobody intends to waste food, but in many instances, like problems in accurate estimation, deep storage, power failure and food preferences and consumption habit, it is unavoidable. The finding was in line with the Attiq et al. ( 2021 ) where ‘anticipated guilt’ and ‘awareness of consequences’ was found to be significant driver of reuse and reduce food waste in the context of United States. Russell et al. ( 2017 ) found that ‘negative emotions’ lead to greater intentions to reduce food waste.

Theme2 (a and b): Family Culture and Rising Working Class

This theme is based on an inquiry into the reasons for food waste. The analysis revealed two primary themes: family culture and the growth of the working class, with special occasions being an exception. At the core of food waste in Indian households lies the issue of family culture. Another theme that emerged in the research is the rising working class, which can be categorized under sub-themes of the working class, children and working adults, time constraints, storage facility, and bulk purchases. This finding is closely related with Jamaludin et al. ( 2022 ) study in which ‘food management practices’ were found to significantly affect food waste in Malaysia.

Theme3 (a and b): Improving Family Values and Finding Alternative Methods of Consumption

The researchers identified two primary themes during their investigation of methods for reducing or eliminating food waste: improving family values and finding alternative methods of consumption. The theme of improving family values involved enhancing individuals' values systems, consumption habits, awareness, and appreciation of food, purchasing and cooking in appropriate quantities, as well as implementing initiatives for children. On the other hand, the theme of finding alternative methods of consumption focused on effectively managing storage, sharing food, and reusing food. Several participants emphasized the importance of reusing leftover food as a method of reducing food waste. The finding is in line with Filimonau et al. ( 2022 ), observation that religious and family values had a significant impact on intention to waste food.

This study aimed to examine the experience of food waste in Indian households and understand the extent of food waste in these households. Through an idiographic investigation, the study revealed that food waste is a prevalent issue in Indian households. During the interviews, respondents provided their daily/weekly food waste estimates. From their estimates, authors concluded that it is almost close to the study of UNEP ( 2021 ).

The study also examined the emotions and attitudes of Indian households toward food waste. The findings revealed that food waste elicits feelings of guilt and sadness for most respondents. Participants expressed that wasting food feels like committing a sin, and some even described it as emotionally painful. Despite its prevalence in Indian households, food waste appears to be a source of discomfort, and they are actively seeking ways to reduce or eliminate it. The study identified various reasons for food waste in Indian households. These include a decline in family values, miscalculations, the rise of the working class, lack of appreciation for food, special occasions, storage facilities, bulk purchases, food preferences, and time constraints. Among households where both partners work, lack of time and appreciation for food preferences emerged as the leading causes of food waste.

The study suggests several solutions to reduce, minimize, or eliminate food waste, such as improving value systems and consumption habits, enhancing awareness and appreciation, managing special occasions better, sharing food, and managing food storage. Participants recommended teaching children to appreciate food and avoid waste from an early age. They also suggested avoiding overcooking, miscalculations, and over-ordering during special occasions, and reverting to traditional Indian culture and practices such as appreciating the efforts of farmers, eating with family members, and using food waste as feed for livestock.

The study's focus on kitchen-related food waste in Indian households may limit its scope. Respondents also noted wasting food during special occasions or dining out, which were not included in this research. Future studies could explore these areas to gain a more comprehensive understanding of the issue.

In summary, the study sheds light on the prevalence of food waste in Indian households, the related attitudes and emotions, and the reasons behind it. It also offers practical solutions for reducing, minimizing, or eliminating food waste, which could serve as guidelines for individuals, households, and policymakers. However, further research is needed to validate the findings by examining how these may vary in various geographical regions of India or households of different social classes. Mixed methods or quantitative research could produce comparable results and provide more comprehensive insights.

Data availability

All data generated or analysed during this study are included in this published article.

Change history

27 november 2023.

A Correction to this paper has been published: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-023-31210-3

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All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation, data collection and analysis were performed by [Samant Shant Priya] and [Sushil Kumar Dixit]. The first draft of the manuscript was written by [Meenu Shant Priya] and [Sajal Kabiraj] and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

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Priya, S.S., Dixit, S.K., Kabiraj, S. et al. Food waste in Indian households: status and potential solutions. Environ Sci Pollut Res 30 , 124401–124406 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-023-31034-1

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DOI : https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-023-31034-1

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Food Wastage Issue

• 07 Apr 2021
• GS Paper - 2
• Government Policies & Interventions

This article is based on “India has a food wastage problem. Here’s how individuals can make a difference” which was published in The Indian Express on 07/04/2021. It talks about the food wastage issue in India.

Despite adequate food production, the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation has reported that about 190 million Indians remain undernourished. Moreover, it states that every third malnourished child is Indian.

Ironically, the same report highlights that around 40% of the food produced in India is either lost or wasted. It is further estimated that the value of food wastage in India is around ₹92,000 crores per annum.

This food wastage, however, isn’t limited to one level alone but perforates through every stage; from harvesting, processing, packaging, and transporting to the end stage of consumption.

Though food wastage is a global problem, India stands a chance to convert this into an opportunity, if it can address it properly.

Case Study: SAFAL Outlet

• On average, 18.7 kgs of food was disposed off by one Safal outlet daily.
• This suggests that an estimated 7.5 tonnes of food are discarded daily across the 400 Safal outlets in Delhi.
• Approximately 84.7% of the total food waste recorded was thrown in the bin, while the rest was either fed to the poor or some animals.
• A significant portion of the food waste bin was still in edible condition.
• If the edible food waste generated by Safal is diverted, an estimated 2000 people could be fed daily.

Challenge of Food Wastage

• This is the loss that occurs even before the food reaches the consumer.
• Food Wastage At Households: There is also a significant amount of food waste generated in our homes. As per the Food Waste Index Report 2021, a staggering 50 kg of food is thrown away per person every year in Indian homes.
• Greenhouse Gases Emission: This excess food waste usually ends up in landfills, creating potent greenhouse gases which have dire environmental implications.
• In the wake of the lockdown imposed last year, surplus stocks of grain — pegged at 65 lakh tonnes in the first four months of 2020 — continued to rot in godowns across India.
• Access to food became extremely scarce for the poor, especially daily-wage laborers.
• Supply-Chain Management Issues: Some problems in the Indian food supply chain include inefficiency of government programs, lack of transparency in revenue generation, insufficient storage facilities, and lack of comprehensive and accurate inventories.

Way Forward

• Calculated purchasing when buying groceries, minimizing single-use packaging wherever possible, ordering consciously from restaurants, and reconsidering extravagant buffet spreads at weddings can go a long way.
• The option of distribution through food banks can also be explored, as can tie-ups with private actors so that food can reach hunger hotspots.
• At the community level, one can identify and get involved with organizations such as Coimbatore-based No Food Waste which aims to redistribute excess food to feed the needy and hungry.
• For example, in France, supermarkets prioritize the reduction, reuse, and recycling of extra food.
• Planning in the supply chain can improve with technology, reducing transit time in shipping and logistics. In addition, multiple government initiatives are also assisting in building infrastructure for the food industry.
• Investments in the vibrant start-up ecosystem in India can also aid in addressing all the hindrances in the system with the support of the latest logistics and supply chain technologies, blockchain, artificial intelligence, data monitoring, storage, and packaging solutions

Early awareness about our duty to minimize food waste is critical in changing the way our society addresses hunger and food scarcity. Thus everyone must join hands if we are to work towards a truly sustainable India that does not have millions undernourished despite having adequate food production.

Notice Board

FAIRNESS IN CONTRACTS: A CONSUMER LAW PERSPECTIVE

PROSECUTION PROCEDURE IN NOISE POLLUTION CASES

FOOD WASTAGE, CLIMATE CHANGE, HUNGER: THE NEED FOR ACTION

• Blog Legal Literacy and Legal Awareness
• May 8, 2023

– Vidushi Gupta (NLSIU, V Year)

DID YOU KNOW?

• 17% of the food produced globally for human consumption is wasted at the consumer level every year.
• One-third of all food in India is wasted or gets spoilt before it is eaten and ends up in the bin.
• More than 22 crore Indians sleep hungry every night.
• All these problems are connected to climate change and justice .

Well, read on!

We all know that food is one of the most basic requirements of life, necessary for human survival, and affects all kinds of people around the world. Hence, food security and justice have been globally recognised as one of the most pressing problems that we face today. However, what we often fail to acknowledge is how crucial the issue of food wastage is and how urgently we need to address it.

This article aims to bring about awareness and recognition of the problem of food wastage and its various aspects among the citizens in India and encourage them to initiate action at an individual level to mitigate food wastage , by suggesting certain steps in this regard.

WHAT CONSTITUTES FOOD WASTAGE?

As per the United Nations Environment Programme’s Food Waste Index Report 2021 , ‘food waste’ refers to food (raw/semi-processed/processed substances intended for human consumption, including drinks, and any substance used in the manufacture, preparation or treatment of food) and the associated inedible parts (such as bones, pits/stones, eggshells), removed from the human food supply chain in the manufacturing , retail, service, and household sectors . This means that the wasted food ends up at the landfill, sewer, litter/discards/refuse, compost sites , etc.

Food wastage is different from food loss , which refers to the crop and livestock human-edible commodity quantities lost through the supply chain between the farmer and the retailer levels , due to problems during production, harvest, storage, packaging, and transport, including logistical and infrastructural issues such as inefficient/inadequate storage facilities and techniques, structures for safe handling and shelf-life enhancement, process protocols, training, lack of comprehensive and accurate inventories, etc.

On the other hand, food waste refers to food products that are thrown away in the trash can intentionally at the consumer’s end .

RELATION WITH CLIMATE CHANGE

Higher temperatures , changing precipitation patterns, and extreme weather events are already impacting food systems (by affecting crop yields) and increasing the risk of disruption of production and supply of food all over the world. Wastage of food adds to these problems as it causes wastage of the natural and physical resources utilised to prepare the food. This means that the land, air, water, energy used for production, harvest, processing, transport, packaging, storage, and disposal of the wasted food are wasted as well.

Food wastage also increases the amount of garbage and leads to greater burden on waste management and disposal systems. Around 10-12% of the garbage generated in India is food waste. This results in harmful greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and creates a high carbon footprint , which in turn contributes to climate change . If food loss and waste were a country, it would be the third biggest source of GHG emissions on the planet. This is because food waste is dumped in landfill sites or composted etc., which leads to the release of toxic gases and GHG, bad odour, and environmental (air, soil, water) pollution .

Thus, food waste is a major contributor to the triple crisis of climate change, nature and biodiversity loss, and pollution and waste . This is recognised under Sustainable Development Goal 12.3 , which deals with sustainable production and consumption patterns, and aims to halve per capita global food waste at the retail and consumer levels by 2030.

WHY IS FOOD WASTAGE A ‘JUSTICE’ ISSUE?

Sustainable Development Goal 2 aims to end hunger and achieve food security worldwide. The Indian Constitution also guarantees its citizens the Right to Health under Article 21 and requires the State to improve the level of nutrition among the people. India has made significant progress in human development over the past 70 years. However, as per the Global Hunger Index 2022 , India ranks 107 th out of 121 countries , and the level of hunger and undernutrition in the country is now at “serious” levels. A staggering 214 million people suffer from chronic food insecurity , representing 17% of the country’s total population. One in three malnourished children in the world lives in India.

Thus, a huge number of people in India are food-deprived, despite India being one of the largest producers of milk, pulses, wheat, and other critical food items in the world. This is in part due to the high levels of wastage of food in India, which has grave repercussions on the quantity, quality, accessibility, availability and affordability of safe, nutritious and healthy food , thereby triggering the traps of hunger, malnutrition and ill-health. Adverse impacts are borne disproportionately by the vulnerable majority (including women , urban poor ), due to the wastage habits of the rich and privileged few, resulting in inequity .

It has been noted that a third of the world’s entire current food supply could be saved by reducing waste. This would be enough to meet the nutritional needs of three billion people .

Thus, the issue of widespread food wastage has major impacts on society, the environment and the economy , as it sits at the intersection of climate change, development, human rights, and sustainability of food systems worldwide.

THE NEED TO MINIMIZE HOUSEHOLD FOOD WASTAGE IN INDIA

Given the above discussion, it seems imperative to minimize wastage of the food produced to the greatest possible extent, even more so due to the exploding population around the world leading to growing food demand. However, enormous amount of food is wasted worldwide every year at various levels. In fact, global food waste from households, retail establishments, and the food service industry totals 931 million tonnes each year. Alarmingly, nearly 570 million tonnes (61%) of this waste occurs at the household level .

In India too, major generators of food wastage include hotels, hostels, restaurants, cafes, supermarkets, residential blocks, airlines cafeterias, and food processing and manufacturing industries. However, around 68.76 million tonnes of food is wasted annually in Indian homes , which translates to 7% of the global total and around 50 kg of household food waste per capita . Reasons include inappropriate purchasing, bad storage conditions, over-preparation, socio-demographic factors, consumption behaviour and patterns in the face of increased income and more food choices etc. Thus, households are one of the largest producers of food waste in the world.

Therefore, there is a dire need for the people in India to take steps and initiate behavioural changes voluntarily in their personal lifestyles at the individual and household level, in order to reduce food wastage as much as possible and tackle this wicked problem.

THE WAY FORWARD – WHAT CAN YOU DO TO REDUCE FOOD WASTAGE?

Although food wastage cannot be entirely eliminated, there is scope for minimizing it to a great extent. However, you might say food wastage is too vast an issue for individuals to address and might ask, ‘What can I even do about it?’ The answer is – much can be done, starting from stopping food from being wasted in your own household and kitchen.

Here are some of the steps that YOU , as a consumer, can take –

A. Buy Food Carefully

• Be a conscious shopper and buy your food items sensibly . Cook or eat what you already have at home before buying more.
• Plan your weekly menu/list before you go shopping and only purchase things that are actually needed in the required quantities. Do not buy food items for more than a week.
• Do not buy in bulk or excess, and avoid getting tempted by promotional offers like ‘buy-one-get-one-free’ deals that are designed to make you buy more. You may think that you will save money, but often the food items spoil or, expire before you can use them. REMEMBER – The market isn’t going anywhere and it needs consumers like you to keep purchasing things. The discounts will return, and you can always go back again to buy more, in case you need it.
• Before buying, check the package and look for the use-by, best-by, and expiration dates , to know if you will be able to consume the food in time.
• Do not refuse to buy consumable fruits and vegetables, etc., simply because they have an imperfect, ugly or asymmetrical appearance .

B. Consume Food Smartly – DON’T HASTE TO WASTE

• Do not leave food unfinished on your plate .
• If you are unsure of the taste, take a small bite/helping to try the food Don’t throw away food simply because you don’t like the taste.
• At restaurants, weddings, buffets, parties etc., do not order/take more food than you can consume . Take a second helping, if you need it. You do not have the right to waste food just because you have ‘paid’ for it .
• Be mindful of the portion sizes when you are planning, cooking, serving, and eating/ordering food. Use small plates to eat food.
• When eating out, take home the leftovers and use them for your next meal.
• Avoid taking part in food challenges/competitions or ordering humongous dishes at restaurants (for instance, the Bahubali thali ), which are just publicity stunts for advertisement purposes and lead to the wastage of huge amounts of food.
• Be creative in using the inedible parts of your food. For instance, use peels of citrus fruits for making cleaning liquids, etc.
• Try to achieve a zero-waste kitchen to the extent possible. Use and cook all parts of fruits/vegetables (stems, peels, rinds, etc.) innovatively, to make chips, soups, stocks, jams, dishes etc. The generally-discarded parts are often the most nutritious as well (for instance, jackfruit seeds are high in protein).

You can also explore some delicious zero-waste recipes here and here . You are encouraged to explore and share such recipes as widely as possible.*

C. Store and Preserve Food Properly

• Be aware of how to store the food items, to increase their shelf life . Even if you buy some food items in bulk, store them properly in airtight, safe, and labelled containers . Don’t hoard food unnecessarily, as inadequate storage can ruin the food products.
• Freeze surplus food before it starts getting stale. Optionally, a record of everything in the freezer could be pasted on the freezer door for easy management.
• Do not leave perishable food items at room temperature for long durations.
• Store and consume food items in the order of their purchase , i.e., place older items or items near expiry in the front and use them before others.

D. Give Away and Donate Food – SHARE FOOD, SHARE JOY !

• A significant portion of the food binned is still in edible condition and can feed thousands of people. Hence, share and distribute surplus food between neighbours, friends, co-workers, etc. instead of throwing it away.
• Installing community fridges near residential societies and retail outlets is a good way of providing free access to extra food to the needy.
• Give leftover table or kitchen scraps to animals (birds, cows, dogs etc.) on the street.
• Donate safe and untouched leftover food from parties, functions etc. to food banks, charity organisations , local labourers for free, so that food is redistributed to the hungry. REMEMBER – Somebody’s waste is somebody’s wealth. You can spread happiness through small acts of compassion.

Details of some organisations working towards food collection and redistribution, registered under the FSSAI’s Indian Food Sharing Alliance (IFSA) initiative can be found here . These include No Food Waste , Robin Hood Army , and Roti Bank .*

E. Attitudinal Changes

• Consider food to be sacred and feel blessed to have it. Save every morsel.
• Treat wasting food as a sinful, irresponsible and socially unacceptable act . Think twice before throwing food.
• Remind young children and other people around you not to waste their food because millions of other children like them do not get enough to eat.
• Don’t encourage mukbang culture and dislike or quit watching such videos on social media platforms.
• Embrace frugality and consume sustainably.

Adoption of these easy-to-implement and efficient steps, by tweaking our current food habits, can help us go a long way in the reduction of food wastage. This, in turn, can have multiple benefits , including increased savings due to reduced expenditure on food; poverty alleviation ; economic development ; more just, inclusive, and equitable food systems; and enhanced food security for the disadvantaged and marginalised people through the redistribution of food resources in the long term. It can also lead to the mitigation of climate change and improved environmental health and sustainability. Thus, we as people can join hands and take small steps together to create self-sufficient and resilient food systems and make our country and planet a better place to live.

Thank you for reading this short article. You are requested to kindly spare a minute and answer this survey .

For further reading on the issue of food wastage – Tristram Stuart , Waste: Uncovering the Global Food Scandal (2009).*

*DISCLAIMER – Please note that the author is not endorsing any of the recipes, organisations, or other resources, the details of which have been shared within the article. These have been provided only for the benefit of the readers. The author does not assume any liability for the same.

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Food waste in Indian households: status and potential solutions

Samant shant priya.

1 Lal Bahadur Shastri Institute of Management (LBSIM), New Delhi, Delhi, India

Sushil Kumar Dixit

2 Lal Bahadur Shastri Institute of Management, New Delhi, India

Sajal Kabiraj

3 School of Business, Design and Technology, Häme University of Applied Sciences Ltd. (HAMK), Valkeakoski, Finland

Meenu Shant Priya

4 School of Business, Galgotias University, Greater Noida, India

Associated Data

All data generated or analysed during this study are included in this published article.

According to a report by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), India had the highest number of undernourished people in the world in 2020. The COVID-19 pandemic further exacerbated the problem of world hunger (WHO 2021 ). According to the Food Waste Index Report, 2021, by United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and The Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP), 931 million tonnes of food waste was produced in 2019, with households accounting for 61%, food services for 26%, and retail for 13%. The report estimates that Indian households generate 50 kg of food waste per capita per year, resulting in total of 68,760,163 tonnes annually. This study aimed to investigate the reasons for food waste in Indian households and potential solutions to minimize or control food waste using interpretive phenomenological analysis. Reasons for food waste include miscalculations in meal preparation, a lack of appreciation for food, and a weakening of traditional Indian value systems. The study identified two potential solutions for controlling or eliminating food waste: exploring alternative methods of food consumption and enhancing the family culture surrounding food. The study results could potentially guide policymakers and planners in designing policies to address the problem of food waste in Indian households.

Introduction

The United Nations (UN) introduced the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in 2015 to address poverty and environmental concerns, and promote peace and prosperity (UN 2015 ). SDG 12 specifically focuses on responsible consumption and production, with goal 12.3 aiming to reduce global per capita food waste by half by 2030. The Zero Hunger Challenge, launched by the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in 2012, aims to eliminate food insecurity and malnutrition while building sustainable food systems (UN 2012 ). If current trends continue, however, the number of people affected by hunger is expected to surpass 840 million by 2030. Minimizing food losses during production, storage, transport, and consumption, empowering consumer choice, and ensuring commitment by producers, retailers, and consumers are all crucial to meeting the Zero Hunger Challenge (James et al. 2020 ). Chronic malnutrition has increased in many parts of the world including most Indian states, and malnourished children are more vulnerable to illness and disease (Bhargava and Bhargava 2021 ; FAO 2021 ; World Bank 2020 ). The Executive Director of the UNEP, Inger Andersen, emphasized the significance of reducing food waste in addressing global issues such as climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution and waste, and that it is essential for businesses, governments, and individuals to play their part in minimizing food waste to combat these challenges (UNEP 2020 ).

The terms food loss, food waste, biowaste, and kitchen waste are used interchangeably (Gjerris and Gaiani 2013 ). Thyberg and Tonjes ( 2016 ) classify food waste into two types: food loss and food waste. Food loss refers to any edible food that goes uneaten at any stage, including crops left in the field, food that spoils during transit, and food that does not make it to a store, in addition to uneaten food in households and businesses. Food waste, on the other hand, refers to food that is discarded or uneaten after it has been purchased or served, and it can occur at any stage of the food chain. Examples of food waste include unconsumed meals in restaurants, leftovers from home-cooked meals, and spoiled food (FoodPrint 2018 ). The European Commission ( 2014 ) categorizes food waste into three types: food losses, unavoidable food waste, and avoidable food waste.

The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) defines food waste and food loss as:

“a decrease in quantity or quality of food. Food waste is part of food loss and refers to discarding or alternative (non-food) use of food that is safe and nutritious for human consumption along the entire food supply chain, from primary production to end household consumer level” (FAO 2011 ).

According to the Global Hunger Index (2021), India ranks 101 out of 116 countries measured in 2021. The amount of food waste in India is equivalent to the amount of food consumed by the United Kingdom (Sinha and Tripathi 2021 ). In light of these findings, this study aims to qualitatively investigate the factors that contribute to food waste in Indian households and propose potential solutions to mitigate the issue. While extensive literature on food waste exists, most of it focuses on the Western world, leaving a knowledge gap regarding developing economies such as India. Food waste is a complex phenomenon that is heavily influenced by contextual factors like value system, affordability, availability, value system etc. Additionally, it is frequently attributed to individual cognitive and behavioural choices. However, limited research has been conducted to examine the lived experiences of families in terms of food and its waste. Therefore, this study seeks to explore the core aspects and lived experiences of food waste in Indian households.

The research questions that guide this exploration include: "What is the experience of food waste among Indian households?"; "What are the factors that contribute to food waste in Indian households?"; and "What is the best solution for reducing food waste in Indian households?" By addressing these questions, the study hopes to provide valuable insights into how to minimize or control food waste in Indian households, which can inform policymakers in designing effective policies and programs.

The present study adopts a qualitative research approach to investigate the factors affecting food waste in Indian households. Qualitative research aims to reveal the meaning and experience of people's lives and social environments (Fossey et al. 2002 ), making it a suitable method for exploring complex issues such as food waste. Qualitative researchers use naturalistic inquiry to inductively examine real-world environments and develop rich narrative descriptions (Patton 2005 ). In this study, we employ phenomenology as the specific qualitative research method, which focuses on the lived experiences of a few individuals and their perceptions of these experiences to generate significant insights (Thompson 1997 ). Creswell and Poth ( 2016 ) suggest that phenomenology can be used to investigate complex topics with limited literature. Through semi-structured interviews, we aim to explore the phenomenon of food waste experienced in Indian households within the context of their food consumption. Our use of qualitative analysis facilitates a thorough investigation of the problem and may lead to the development of a theoretical framework (Miles and Huberman 1994 ). To understand the factors that contribute to food waste, we analysed participants' perspectives gathered through semi-structured interviews.

For the current study, respondents from the National Capital Region (NCR) in India were selected. This region was selected due to its diverse population in terms of income, age, education, religious and cultural background, as well as regional affiliations. The researcher collected data from respondents from Delhi, Noida, Gurgaon, and Ghaziabad with varied gender, age, and occupational distribution. All interviews were recorded except for five participants who declined to be recorded, and the researcher simultaneously made notes during the conversations. Initially, twenty samples were recruited for the study, but the researchers ceased data collection at the thirteenth interview, as the emergence of novel data and themes had ceased. This was considered indicative of reaching saturation point, which is regarded as the ‘gold standard’ in qualitative inquiry (Fusch and Ness 2015 ; Guest et al. 2006 ). In this study, data saturation was reached at thirteen interviews, which is consistent with previous studies by Guest et al. ( 2006 ) and Francis et al. ( 2010 ), where data saturation was reached at twelve and seventeen interviews, respectively.

To investigate the lived experiences of food waste in Indian households, semi-structured, open-ended, and in-depth interviews were conducted. Prior to data collection, an initial conceptual framework, interview guide, and a set of research questions were developed following Miles and Huberman's (1994) recommendations. The study’s objectives and adaptive decision-making model conceptual framework were used to define the scope of the investigation and prevent superfluous data accumulation. The interview guide consisted of twelve questions that focused on food waste, feelings about food waste, and the reasons for and possible solutions to food waste. Respondents were approached in their homes and given a general overview of the study's purpose before commencing the interview. The interviews, which lasted between 20 and 65 minutes, were conducted in the local language and recorded for later transcription and translation into English. The transcripts were reviewed for accuracy, ensuring that the participants' viewpoints were not lost in translation.

To protect the privacy of participants, they were informed that their interviews and collected information would be kept confidential. The researchers obtained consent from the participants for using the collected data in academic publications. To ensure the participants' anonymity, the researchers used pseudonyms and removed any data that could reveal their identities The data was stored in a password-protected folder, and participants were instructed to contact the researchers if they felt uncomfortable during or after the interviews.

The researchers employed interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) as recommended by Smith et al. ( 2022 ) to analyze the interview transcripts. The analysis began with a comprehensive review and re-reading of the transcripts to gain a general understanding of the participants' stories and to identify any emerging themes or novel information. Titles were assigned to the emerging themes, and the themes were abstracted while preserving the participants' original accounts. The subsequent step involved documenting the emerging themes and consolidating them to obtain the core of the participants' experiences with food waste. The authors then independently identified clusters of related themes across the transcripts, which were compiled into a list of master themes to ensure face validity. Finally, all authors revised the master and subordinate themes to ensure that the analysis accurately reflected the participants' narratives.

Three master themes emerged from this analysis: Feelings about food waste, reasons for food waste, and how to avoid or eliminate food waste .

The various themes emerged are listed in Table ​ Table1 1 .

Overview of the master themes and sub-themes

Theme1: Emotional Distress

This theme revolved around the emotional distress associated with food wastage. All the participants who took part in the study expressed significant concern regarding food waste in Indian households. It can be concluded that nobody intends to waste food, but in many instances, like problems in accurate estimation, deep storage, power failure and food preferences and consumption habit, it is unavoidable. The finding was in line with the Attiq et al. ( 2021 ) where ‘anticipated guilt’ and ‘awareness of consequences’ was found to be significant driver of reuse and reduce food waste in the context of United States. Russell et al. ( 2017 ) found that ‘negative emotions’ lead to greater intentions to reduce food waste.

Theme2 (a and b): Family Culture and Rising Working Class

This theme is based on an inquiry into the reasons for food waste. The analysis revealed two primary themes: family culture and the growth of the working class, with special occasions being an exception. At the core of food waste in Indian households lies the issue of family culture. Another theme that emerged in the research is the rising working class, which can be categorized under sub-themes of the working class, children and working adults, time constraints, storage facility, and bulk purchases. This finding is closely related with Jamaludin et al. ( 2022 ) study in which ‘food management practices’ were found to significantly affect food waste in Malaysia.

Theme3 (a and b): Improving Family Values and Finding Alternative Methods of Consumption

The researchers identified two primary themes during their investigation of methods for reducing or eliminating food waste: improving family values and finding alternative methods of consumption. The theme of improving family values involved enhancing individuals' values systems, consumption habits, awareness, and appreciation of food, purchasing and cooking in appropriate quantities, as well as implementing initiatives for children. On the other hand, the theme of finding alternative methods of consumption focused on effectively managing storage, sharing food, and reusing food. Several participants emphasized the importance of reusing leftover food as a method of reducing food waste. The finding is in line with Filimonau et al. ( 2022 ), observation that religious and family values had a significant impact on intention to waste food.

This study aimed to examine the experience of food waste in Indian households and understand the extent of food waste in these households. Through an idiographic investigation, the study revealed that food waste is a prevalent issue in Indian households. During the interviews, respondents provided their daily/weekly food waste estimates. From their estimates, authors concluded that it is almost close to the study of UNEP ( 2021 ).

The study also examined the emotions and attitudes of Indian households toward food waste. The findings revealed that food waste elicits feelings of guilt and sadness for most respondents. Participants expressed that wasting food feels like committing a sin, and some even described it as emotionally painful. Despite its prevalence in Indian households, food waste appears to be a source of discomfort, and they are actively seeking ways to reduce or eliminate it. The study identified various reasons for food waste in Indian households. These include a decline in family values, miscalculations, the rise of the working class, lack of appreciation for food, special occasions, storage facilities, bulk purchases, food preferences, and time constraints. Among households where both partners work, lack of time and appreciation for food preferences emerged as the leading causes of food waste.

The study suggests several solutions to reduce, minimize, or eliminate food waste, such as improving value systems and consumption habits, enhancing awareness and appreciation, managing special occasions better, sharing food, and managing food storage. Participants recommended teaching children to appreciate food and avoid waste from an early age. They also suggested avoiding overcooking, miscalculations, and over-ordering during special occasions, and reverting to traditional Indian culture and practices such as appreciating the efforts of farmers, eating with family members, and using food waste as feed for livestock.

The study's focus on kitchen-related food waste in Indian households may limit its scope. Respondents also noted wasting food during special occasions or dining out, which were not included in this research. Future studies could explore these areas to gain a more comprehensive understanding of the issue.

In summary, the study sheds light on the prevalence of food waste in Indian households, the related attitudes and emotions, and the reasons behind it. It also offers practical solutions for reducing, minimizing, or eliminating food waste, which could serve as guidelines for individuals, households, and policymakers. However, further research is needed to validate the findings by examining how these may vary in various geographical regions of India or households of different social classes. Mixed methods or quantitative research could produce comparable results and provide more comprehensive insights.

Author contribution

All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation, data collection and analysis were performed by [Samant Shant Priya] and [Sushil Kumar Dixit]. The first draft of the manuscript was written by [Meenu Shant Priya] and [Sajal Kabiraj] and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

Open Access funding provided by Häme University of Applied Sciences. The authors declare that no funds, grants, or other support were received during the preparation of this manuscript.

Data availability

Declarations.

The researchers sought informed consent of all participants prior to recruitment prior to recruitment for data collection.

The explicit consent for publication was also obtained from participants.

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

The original online version of this article was revised: Meenu Shant Priya is only affiliated to affiliation 4.

Publisher’s Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Change history

A Correction to this paper has been published: 10.1007/s11356-023-31210-3

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Explained: What is Food Loss and Wastage and How it is Measured

India contributes 7% of the world's wasted food, but could its share be even higher studies show that gaps remain in how india tracks food loss and wastage data.

International Day of Awareness of Food Loss and Waste is marked on 29th September every year. Image Credit: Shutterstock

Around 17% of food produced worldwide in retail, food servicing and by households – amounting to nearly a billion tonnes – is wasted every year. Nearly 14% of the total food produced globally is lost between the harvest and retail stages.

India's contribution to wasted food, at 68.8 million tonnes annually, is 7% of the global total, per the United Nations Environment Programme's Food Waste Index Report 2021 . An Indian household, on average, wastes 50 kg of food every year, the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution told the Parliament in March 2022. This was much less than most developed countries, the ministry had said. However, every fourth hungry person worldwide, is an Indian.

Food loss and waste accounts for 8-10% of global greenhouse gas emissions, which in turn contributes to climate change and extreme weather events. Reducing food loss and waste (FLW) can thus support both food security for the poor, and climate change mitigation efforts.

On September 29, 2022, as the UN Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) marks the third International Day of Awareness of Food Loss and Waste, we found that India must bridge gaps in accurately measuring its food lost and wasted data, to effectively combat food waste.

What is food loss and food wastage, and how are these measured?

The Food Waste Index Report 2021 defines food as 'any substance – whether processed, semi-processed or raw – that is intended for human consumption.' Thus food also includes drinks and any substance used in the manufacture, preparation or treatment of food. It does not include cosmetics, tobacco or processing agents used along the food supply chain, or substances which are used only as drugs.

Food loss and food waste are distinct . The former refers to 'all the crop and livestock human-edible commodity quantities' lost through the supply chain, starting from the food production stage, whether due to problems during harvesting, storing, packing and transporting, or other infrastructural or market/ price mechanisms.

Food waste, on the other hand, refers to food that is wasted or thrown away intentionally because of consumers – whether in the food/ grocery retail or food service sectors, or in households – because of buying or preparing excess food, or food that has gone bad due to hoarding.

UNEP tracks food wastage data at three levels. Level 1 uses modelling and data extrapolation to provide an estimate of food wastage. Level 2 data are from studies conducted using particular methodologies (see graph below) to measure and report food waste. For example, a study reporting on food waste in the household sector using waste composition analysis and volumetric assessment. Or, a study focusing on the retail sector that uses a counting and scanning method.

UNEP's Level 3 data tracking is the most advanced level, providing additional information about disaggregation of food wastage according to the destination (landfill, composting, controlled combustion), or edible and inedible parts (eggshells, fruit peels). It can thus support the development of an appropriate food waste prevention strategy.

Where India stands in measuring and reducing food loss and waste

To measure food loss accurately, FAO recommends data collection for all stages before retail – harvest, post-production, storage, transportation, primary processing, and wholesale – to help countries tailor programmes to improve the efficiency and functioning of their food supply system.

India has conducted two national surveys on food loss in the last two decades, the 'Assessment of Quantitative Harvest and Post-Harvest Losses of Major Crops and Commodities in India', conducted by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) in 2005-07 and 2013-14. Overall , the least losses were reported for cereals and the highest for oilseeds, followed by fruits and vegetables.

Although India is one of few countries to have conducted two rounds of such a survey on food loss, said a 2021 working paper by the World Resources Institute (WRI), most research on FLW in India is focused on the quantity of post-harvest food loss. The WRI paper also found that empirical research on food wastage is scarce, and data on food waste at the household level is almost nonexistent in India.

Data sets on food wastage from India have a 'medium confidence' rating in the Food Waste Index Report, too. For the Indian estimate, three studies were identified, two of which were carried out in the same city (Dehradun), and all three were more than six years old. The sample size or length was either small or unclear in all the studies.

Initiatives by the government to tackle food loss and waste

India's primary challenge is "lack of cold chains and adequate storage facilities leading to a large amount of [food] loss along the supply chain," says India's Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI). Food losses in storage are generally higher than the losses in transport, the agriculture ministry said in August 2022.

The problems in the Indian food supply chain include inefficiency of government programmes, lack of transparency in revenue generation, insufficient storage facilities, and lack of comprehensive and accurate inventories, per a 2019 study by Delhi-based environmental research and action group, Chintan India.

ICAR has been taking steps to control food loss at the harvest and storage level, including developing structures for safe handling and shelf-life enhancement of farm produce, process protocols for food-based products, and training on post-harvest technology for farmers, entrepreneurs and self-help groups engaged in agriculture.

Other government initiatives include a Kisan Rail train service launched in August 2020, to transport perishable produce, and construction of rural agricultural produce godowns and cold storages, Union Minister for Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare Narendra Singh Tomar, informed Parliament in August.

FSSAI has also launched the 'Save Food Share Food' social initiative to "help promote donation of surplus food and reduce food waste". Toward this, it had notified the Food Safety and Standards (Recovery and Distribution of Surplus Food) Regulations in 2019, which specifies the responsibilities of food donors and surplus food distribution organisations, to ensure that donated food remains safe for human consumption.

Divyani Dubey

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Issue of food wastage in India – Explained, pointwise

ForumIAS announcing GS Foundation Program for UPSC CSE 2025-26 from 10th August. Click Here for more information.

• 1 Introduction
• 2 Key Findings of Food Waste Index Report 2021
• 3 Status of food wastage in India
• 4 Impacts of food wastage
• 5 Steps taken by Government to reduce Food Wastage
• 6 Challenges in reducing food wastage in India 
• 7 Suggestions
• 8 Conclusion

Introduction

India witnessed an enormous increase in food production especially after the green revolution of the 1960s. Based on the success, the government introduced other revolutions like white, blue, pink, etc. All of these ensured enough food for everyone. However, still many in India are devoid of quality food due to a significant amount of food wastage in India.

Recently, the UNEP’s Food Waste Index Report 2021 highlights the magnitude of wastage. Although the government has taken robust steps towards wastage prevention. To sensitize the masses towards food wastage India needs to do much more.

Key Findings of Food Waste Index Report 2021

• Approximately, 17% (931 million tonnes) of total global food production was wasted in 2019. 
• Among them, 61% of the global waste came from households, 26% from food service and 13% from retail.
• Household per capita food waste generation is broadly similar across country income groups.
• In 2019 alone hunger impacted some 690 million people. Another three billion were unable to afford a healthy diet.

Status of food wastage in India

There are various reports that pointed out some important observations about food wastage in India. These are,

• Per person from Indian homes are throwing away 50KG of food as wastage every year.
• On the other hand, the FAO’s (Food and Agricultural Organisation) mention that nearly 40 percent of the food produced in India is wasted every year.
• All this food wastage was present throughout the supply chain. This starts from initial agricultural production to final household consumption.

Impacts of food wastage

• Prevalence of Hunger : If more food is wasted, then the remaining food is available at higher prices. This excludes many people from accessing quality food owing to poor socio-economic conditions. In the 2020 Global Hunger Index , India ranks 94th out of the 107 countries.
• Environment Impact: Around 8-10% of global greenhouse gas emissions are associated with food that is not consumed. Food waste can reach landfills and emit potent greenhouse gases which have terrible environmental implications.
• Economic Impact: Food loss and waste cause about $940 billion per year in economic losses to the world. So, India wasting 40% of food can save the economic cost associated with food.
• Wastage of resources : If the food is wasted, then the cost of factors of production such as land, water, energy, and inputs used to produce food goes in vain. 

Steps taken by Government to reduce Food Wastage

The government has taken various steps to reduce food wastage in India. This includes steps such as,

• One of the core components of the scheme involves developing an integrated cold chain and value addition infrastructure .
• Similarly, Mega Food Parks also getting developed in India. They will provide adequate and appropriate storage facilities as well as process food. This will improve food preservation and elongate its shelf-life.
• The National Food Security Act, 2013 places an obligation on the government to deliver quality food at affordable prices to the poor. This places an indirect obligation on the government to reduce food wastage in order to achieve the mission’s objectives.
• Linking of the Aadhaar card with the Ration card ensured better identification of beneficiaries under the Public distribution system. This reduced the demand for excess food.

Challenges in reducing food wastage in India  

• Essential commodities get exemptions from movement restrictions. However, farmers across the country struggled to access markets. This results in tonnes of food waste in India.
• Similarly, surplus stocks of grain (65 lakh tonnes) in the first four months of 2020 continued to rot in godowns across India.
• Gaps in Public Distribution System : The PDS in India has a better supply chain system than farmers. But maintenance of warehouses and poor utilization of buffer stocks leads to a lot of food wastage in India.
• Lack of Data : There is a shortage of credible data on food waste in India. For example, there is no data available at the national, state, and district level. This hampers policy formulation and subsequent assessment of government programs.
• During the COVID-19 pandemic, huge amounts of food wasted as the affluent class stocked huge food quantities than their required amount.
• Similarly, Food wastage in India is a common phenomenon in Indian weddings.
• Attracting Marketing practices : Big supermarkets offer discounts on bulk buying and large portion sizes. This boosts consumption and sales but certainly augments food wastage.

Suggestions

• Currently, only 11 countries mention Food waste as part of their NDCs.
• Multilateral platforms like the UN Food Systems Summit can be used to improve cooperation and collaboration among countries.
• India can utilise the knowledge and practice of UNEP’s Regional Food Waste Working Groups.  Especially to share and learn good practices with peer countries.
• For instance, Adrish is India’s first chain of zero-waste concept stores. They aim to shift people from harmful, artificial consumption to an eco-friendly, zero-waste lifestyle.
• Similarly,  India Food Banking Network (IFBN) is bringing the government, private sector and NGOs together to fight hunger and malnutrition in India. It aspires to create one food bank in every district of India by 2030.
• Ordering consciously from restaurants
• Feed someone with extra food or make a compost out of it.
• Focus on traditional nose-to-tail cooking when it comes to meat and seafood. There are certain regional Indian recipes that encourage this practice. The government has to encourage this. For example, Surnoli, a Mangalorean dosa or gobhi danthal sabzi made with cauliflower stalks and leaves in Punjab. Nose-to-tail cooking: It is the method of including as much as of an animal/vegetable in cooking.
• At the community level – People can associate with organisations like No Food Waste. It is a Coimbatore-based organisation that aims to redistribute excess food to feed the needy and hungry.

India needs a more proactive approach towards Food wastage that should involve a blend of incentives, penalties and behaviour changing measures. This will ensure judicious food utilisation and would also help in achieving SDG 12.3 that aims to halve global food waste by 2030. 

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Explained: Food Wastage Has Economic And Ecological Impact, Here Are Some Steps You Can Take To Reduce It

Food production around the world falls well short of what is consumed there. according to the unep's (united nations environment programme) food wastage index report, 68,760,163 tonnes of food is wasted annually in indian homes, or approximately 50 kilograms per person..

Food production around the world falls well short of what is consumed there. According to the UNEP's (United Nations Environment Programme) food wastage index report, 68,760,163 tonnes of food is wasted annually in Indian homes, or approximately 50 kilograms per person.

The issue of worldwide food wastage has a major effect on society, the environment and the economy. According to estimates, 8-10% of global greenhouse gas emissions are linked with food that is not consumed by the consumers. Unbelievably, one-third of the food that is produced worldwide is either lost or wasted.

How much food do we waste?

The food waste index research has drawn attention to the widespread issue of domestic food waste and supports initiatives in developing nations. The reason for the gap between the food produced and that consumed is due to wastage and poor management.

A majority of people are frequently guilty of leaving some food unfinished on their plates. Food loss and waste doesn’t just impact the environment, it has consequences on the economy as well.

According to the FSSAI (Food Safety and Standards Authority of India), one-third of all food in India is wasted or gets spoilt before it is eaten. According to the UNEP Food Waste Index Report 2021, household food waste in India is estimated to be around 50 kg per person annually, or 68.76 million tonnes.

The cost of food wastage

These losses take place across the supply chain - during transit, storage, and marketing - as well as in homes, on dining tables and in kitchens. Due to the propensity to buy or prepare more food than can be consumed by families or visitors at social gatherings, a sizable amount of food typically goes uneaten and is thrown away. Another factor is the lack of refrigeration and cold-storage facilities.

These unconsumed goods account for 8–10% of worldwide carbon emissions. The carbon footprint of food waste is estimated to be 3.3 billion tonnes of greenhouse gases discharged into the environment each year.

Wasting food is an irresponsible act and increases the garbage load, thereby adding up to the pressure on the waste management mechanism. While the trash finds its way into landfills, it goes straight into water bodies oftentimes. However, food wastage is an environmental issue as well as a social or humanitarian one.

Health issued cased by food wastage

We waste not only the food itself, but also the water and energy needed to grow, harvest, transport and package it. Additionally, rotting foods in landfills releases methane, an even more potent greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide.

Asthma, birth deformities, cancer, cardiovascular diseases, childhood cancer, COPD, infectious diseases, low birth weight and preterm delivery are just a few of the illnesses that might strike.

The issue that waste creates might also include bacteria, vermin and insects. The food is wasted despite requiring a lot of fresh water, land and labour to extract the produce. Food waste would rank third in the world for greenhouse gas emissions if it were a nation.

How to reduce food wastage?

The best method to reduce food waste is to have a system for producing nutritious, healthful and sustainable food. Eating well, only purchasing foods when needed, purchasing and serving food in the required quantities and preserving food properly are some other things that could be done to prevent food wastage. People can create a composting area since food scraps can enrich the soil with nutrients and lower their carbon footprint. Up to 150 kg of food waste could potentially be avoided by home composting.

Whenever possible, people could also donate leftover food to food banks. This option is viable for large parties and functions, where a big amount of food goes to waste. By doing so, a sense of being more wise and responsible will prevail in the minds of people. Additionally, by creating a weekly food list, people can avoid being tempted by promotional offers to buy more than what is actually needed.

Another practical solution is to freeze extra food before it starts getting stale. A record of everything in the freezer along with the date and time the food was frozen could be maintained and posted on the freezer door for easy access and better awareness.

Give away food you can't eat

Distributing the food that one can’t eat between friends, coworkers or the needy instead of throwing it away is a good way to avoid food wastage. If you are a part of some kind of celebration, you may also get in touch with any of the Indian organisations that give leftover foods and catered party foods to the hungry. Consider providing leftover table or kitchen scraps to animals in need. Instead of simply tossing away leftover foods, it is more wise and kind to take the time to feed these poor creatures. The happiness of other living things can be greatly increased by small acts of compassion from your side.

Apart from the above things, one could be mindful of their own needs and never purchase or serve themselves in excess. A major misconception that is responsible for food wastage are the dates mentioned on the food packaging.

Best before and use by

Understanding the difference between Best Before and Use By dates could go a long way in preventing food wastage. Best Before date conveys that the food will retain its flavours and best qualities before a certain date, it could still be used beyond that date if stored properly. Use By date conveys that a food might not be suitable for consumption beyond that date. Understanding the various aspects of food packaging could also lead to better awareness.

Don't hoard food

The practice of hoarding foods must be kept in check as inadequate storage facilities could ruin the food products. Another major source of food wastage in India is throwing away food mindlessly if one doesn’t like the taste. Serving oneself limited quantities of food but refilling to one’s fill is a good approach to prevent food wastage. Citizens across the globe must collectively take steps to reduce their individual carbon footprint as climate change also leads to loss of crops and eventually food crisis across the world.

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Essay on Food Waste

Introduction

Food is one of our basic needs. It is important for everyone, whether rich or poor. But it is a fact that the King has plenty of food, while a poor wanders for his one-time meal. It is found that one, who has plenty of food, often wastes it.

The wastage of food starts right from its production to the final consumption. While storing the grown crop, lots of food wastes because of improper storage. Purchasing more than the needed food in restaurants and hotels is also a major reason for food wastage. Sometimes, there is food prepared more than needed in our houses, which brings the wastage of lots of food. The food, prepared in the marriages and other functions, also causes food wastage in a huge amount.

There should be proper planning of the food storage. Also, we should buy and cook only the needed amount of food. Instead of wasting food in marriages and other functions, we can distribute them among hungry poor people. There are lots of ways to avoid food wastage.

There are many families across the world living without food. Think about them and start feeding them whenever it is possible, instead of wasting it. Food is for everyone, not for one.

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FOOD WASTAGE: CAUSES, IMPACTS AND SOLUTIONS

• August 2021
• Science Heritage Journal 5(1):17-20

• Tennessee State University

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How to minimize food waste : Food waste in India: Prevention strategies and outcomes

Introduction.

According to the Asian Age, twenty-one million metric tonnes of wheat — almost equal to Australia’s production — rots each year in India due to improper storage. According to the Associated Chambers of Commerce, the country experiences a post-harvest loss of Rs 2 lakh crores (about 24 billion USD) annually due to lack of food processing units and storage facilities. The World Bank recently warned that 60 percent of the country’s food subsidies do not reach the poor; they are sponged by middlemen. The Food Corporation of India (FCI) was set up in 1964 to offer impetus to price support systems, encourage nationwide distribution and maintain a sufficient buffers of staples like wheat and rice but has been woefully inadequate to the needs of the country. Around one percent of GDP gets shaved off annually in the form of food waste . According to the agriculture ministry, Rs 50,000 crores (10 billion USD) worth of food produced is wasted every year in the country. One million tonnes of onions vanish on their way from farms to markets, as do 2.2 million tonnes of tomatoes. Tomatoes get squished if they are packed into jute sacks. Overall, five million eggs crack or go bad due to lack of cold storage. In resource terms, India is estimated to use more than 230 cubic kilometre of fresh water annually — enough to provide drinking water to 100 million people a year — for producing food items that are ultimately wasted. Besides this, nearly 300 million barrels of oil used in the process is also ultimately wasted. Wasting a kilogramme of wheat and rice would mean wasting 1,500 and 3,500 litres of water respectively that is consumed in their production.

Under such extreme data, food waste has started receiving much attention at the policy and management levels due to the strong research evidence identifying it not only in terms of wastage of valuable resources but also due to its environmental impact. There is considerable emerging evidence to suggest that land-filled food may be one of the major causes of landfill methane emissions. Climate change and its impact on food availability and access to a potentially ‘at risk’ population, has also drawn attention.

Defining Food Loss and Waste

Food loss is defined as “the decrease in quantity or quality of food”. Food waste is part of food loss and refers to discarding or alternative (non-food) use of food that is safe and nutritious for human consumption along the entire food supply chain, from primary production to end household consumer level. Food waste is recognized as a distinct part of food loss because the drivers that generate it and the solutions to it are different from those of food losses. (FAO, 2014)

So conceptually, FAO’s definition also covers

• Food loss refers to a decrease in mass (dry matter) or nutritional value (quality) of food that was originally intended for human consumption. These losses are mainly caused by inefficiencies in the food supply chains, such as poor infrastructure and logistics, lack of technology, insufficient skills, knowledge and management capacity of supply chain actors, and lack of access to markets. In addition, natural disasters play a role.
• Food waste refers to food appropriate for human consumption being discarded, whether or not it is kept beyond its expiry date or left to spoil. Often this is because food has spoiled but it can be for other reasons such as oversupply due to markets, or individual consumer shopping/eating habits.
• Food wastage refers to any food lost by deterioration or waste. Thus, the term “wastage” encompasses both food loss and food waste.” (FAO, 2013)

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Reasons of food waste

Modernization.

Industrialization of food systems, which results in a transition of food production and preparation from the home to the factory and from handcraft to purchasing, affects the foods that people consume, the types and quantities of food waste, and contributes to an increased physical distancing of people from food production and preparation. In areas with industrialized food systems with large amounts of food processing, people often purchase pre-made foods, or canned and frozen vegetables. As a result, pea pods and corn husks, for example, become industrial wastes, while packaging becomes more common in household waste. In industrialized food systems, consumers often purchase pre-cut meats, such as chicken legs, so there are no other components of the chicken to be disposed of as waste at the consumer level; the other parts of the chicken are utilized or disposed of by industry during the chicken processing.

Increased frequency of eating at restaurants and consumption of takeout food (commercially prepared but consumed at home), may contribute to increased food wastage as adults tend to be less likely to waste food that they prepared themselves or that a loved one prepared. In cultures based on handwork, handmade things are valuable as they embody many hours of labor. People who have not created or prepared something themselves, or watched a loved one do so, value labor less than those who have, and therefore, are more likely to throw it away.

Higher incomes are generally associated with the consumption of a more varied diet. There is a worldwide trend of increase in consumption of western diets comprising protein and energy-rich foods and convenience foods and a relative decrease in consumption of indigenous starchy food staples. Western diets with vulnerable short shelf-life foods are associated with greater food waste and greater drain on environmental resources. Increasing diversity in diet may also lead to increased wastage as opportunities to incorporate leftovers in the next or new meal are reduced. With consistent traditional meals, there are endless possibilities of such incorporation, minimizing leftover wastage.

Secondly, as incomes rise, people may be able to waste food more because food expenditures are no longer a major contributor to their total budgets.

Urbanization requires an extension of food supply systems, leading to diet diversification and disconnection from food production sources. People living in urban clusters have no sense of what their food is made of or how it was produced. Since food sources are removed from consumption, there are more opportunities to market diverse foods, not grown locally. Several studies have found residual waste from urban households has significantly more food components than rural households.

Food production and consumption patterns have shifted from local to regional to global, in terms of quantity, type, cost, variety, and desirability. Food tends to travel more over longer distances than earlier and consumers tend to consume more non-local food.

Food production and consumption patterns have shifted from local to regional to global, in terms of quantity, type, cost, variety and desirability.

Cultural factors

Culture plays a fundamental role in shaping food behaviors, nutrition and consequent waste generation. Countries like the US and Australia have few food traditions of their own and connections with long-standing food traditions and rituals is weak and mostly derived from other cultures. On the other hand, countries like France and India have a strong appreciation of food, including preparation and consumption. Traditional recipes and strong values around food survive over generations. Culture also influences shopping behavior like the amount of food purchased in a single trip, the number of days between shopping trips and the amount of food stored in the household. The amount of food stored has been shown to be directly proportional to wastage.

Socio-demographic factors

Demographic factors like age, family composition and household size, family income tend to have strong relationships with consciousness about food waste. For example, older people tend to be more aware of food waste than younger children, possibly due to exposure to periods of food austerity during calamities, wars, rationing and other emergencies.

World over policy framework standardizes, regulates and mandates food usage, redistribution and disposal under certain conditions. These policies aim to achieve some overall benefit – food safety or enhanced nutrition. Furthermore, litigation considerations may discourage the reuse or redistribution of edible food. There is a dichotomy at the policy level between the need for food safety and nutrition on one hand over the desire to reduce food waste.

Unlike common perception, it was found that most people exhibit a high level of awareness and consciousness regarding food waste, resource and environmental impact and possible role in mitigating hunger. However, they lack knowledge of methods for rationalizing menus and quantities, saving surpluses, and reuse and donation options. Another important outcome was the expressed inability to take any meaningful change steps due to peer and societal pressures.

Customs and behaviors

There is a notable shift in customs related to serving meals at social events like weddings. The traditional custom of Individualized serving of a limited number of food items in a sit-down meal has been largely replaced by lavish buffets, often offering more than 300 items. It is not uncommon to have 4-5 such meals in a single wedding catering to 3,000 to 4,000 guests. It is practically impossible for a single guest to even sample 10% of the service.

Another trend noted was a replication of western ‘course’ meals. Traditionally, Indian meals comprised of a single course where the same plate was utilized for the entire meal. In such a serving, it was easier to mix and match various dishes to suit individual palettes and finish off the meal. In the ‘course’ meal, successive dishes are served separately using individual tableware. Here it is impossible to mix and match. Consequently, the chances of food wastage are higher.

In feasts associated with religious rituals or ‘bhandaras’, several devotees of a shrine pool in resources to organize a community meal. While several individuals are motivated to contribute out of a feeling of religious duty or guilt, frequently only a small percentage actually eat the meal leading to huge food wastages.

In the catering business, heavier and breakable but smaller chinaware plates are being replaced by cheaper and lighter but bigger plastic plates. In its research, Annakshetrea found a positive correlation between the use of bigger and lighter plastic plates and the amount of leftovers.

A correlation was also found between when food was served and the amount of food left uneaten or dumped as leftovers by guests. In instances where food was served late – 10 pm and later, the guests tended to rush, fill up their plates, and consequently, leftovers and scraps were higher.

Possibly people over-estimate their hunger when food is served past usual meal times. This was in contrast to when food was served earlier – around 8 pm when eating was more relaxed and leftovers and scraps were lower in volume. Serving meals earlier perhaps enables people to estimate their hunger more accurately.

Corporate dining and mess halls identified a weekly trend in consumption. Food requirement was reported to go up in the beginning of the week, on Mondays and Tuesdays and tapered off on Fridays. The managers explained this by the fact that many people preferred to work from home on Fridays and possibly the lure of weekend food with family or outings made them less inclined towards food served in the offices.

Another trend noted in India was a replication of western ‘course’ meals. Traditionally, Indian meals comprised of a single course where the same plate was utilized for the entire meal. In the ‘course’ meal, successive dishes are served separately using individual tableware. Consequently, the chances of food wastage are higher.

Lack of standardization

Elsewhere in the paper, the problem of confusion resulting from date labels on packaged food has been highlighted as a cause of food disposal of otherwise consumable food. Due to relatively low use of packaged food, this issue is not prominent, as yet in India, but definitely trend is increasing. In India, the lack of standardization in the food service and FMCG sectors confuses consumers on portion sizes to order. While packaged food industry changes package sizes to suit marketing needs, the restaurant sector has high variability in serving sizes. In such circumstances, customers reported difficulty in ordering and consequent wastages.

Food Waste management approaches

Current thinking on food loss and waste management approaches focus on the themes of reduction, re-use, redistribution, remediation and recovery. These are implemented as a combination of the following strategies.

• Improvements in harvesting, storage and transport of food from farm to fork
• Rationalizing supply chain intermediaries to reduce layers
• Modernizing and expandingthe food processing industry
• Diverting ‘unfit for human consumption food as animal feed
• Resource recovery from dumped food in the form of energy and nutrients
• Consumer awareness and behavioral change
• Rescue and redistribution of food through social and voluntary organizations
• Policy and legislative control

While the top five of the above strategies are well researched and documented as solutions to minimizing food loss, lately there has been considerable interest globally as well as regionally and at individual levels in the last three approaches, particularly in preventing food waste at the consumption level.

Food Waste Prevention Initiatives at the Consumption Stage

Food wastage prevention strategies can be classified into the following categories.

Packaging Innovations

For the past couple of years, scientists have been working on ways to prevent food wastage. A key, and often ignored, facet contributing to the issue of food wastage is lack of optimum packaging material. Packaging helps reduce food wastage by physical protection to prevent damage by

• barrier protection to delay spoilage
• security features to prevent tampering
• properties to promote shelf stability
• more efficient portion control
• marketing that encourages food sales

Researchers from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, US, have, however, taken another step towards solving that problem by developing ‘super slippery’ packaging—it basically enables consumers to squeeze out every last drop of a food product from the package, reducing food wastage, according to a study published this year. “Small amounts of sticky foods like condiments, dairy products, beverages and some meat products that remain trapped in their packaging can add up to big numbers over time even for a single household,” the study notes. The hydrocarbon-based polymers used in the packaging are not only very slippery, but also self-cleaning, the study adds.

Technology Innovations

In addition to scientists, entrepreneurs, too, have invaded the space, developing applications and websites to help restaurants manage their surplus food by making it readily available to those in need. One such initiative has been undertaken by Pune-based Sanjeev Neve, who, in 2016, launched the Food Dosti app, a comprehensive zero-food-wastage platform that brings together eateries, customers, and non-profits. The app provides partner restaurants a platform to ‘publish’ information on the surplus food they have. NGOs and non-profit organisations that have signed up get notifications and can then collect the surplus food, depending on their need. The Food Dosti network has partnered with most restaurants in Pune, its base city, and has now also expanded operations to Mumbai, Neve says. Besides, Food Dosti also rewards customers who visit partner restaurants by giving cashback whenever they finish everything that they order. It also gives customers the option to order partial portions of food to reduce wastage and lets them order the remaining portion free of cost on their next visit to any partner restaurant.

For the past couple of years, scientists have been working on ways to prevent food wastage. A key, and often ignored, facet contributing to the issue of food wastage is lack of optimum packaging material.

Community-based innovations

Minu Pauline, the owner of Kochi-based Pappadavada restaurant, set up a community fridge in 2016, the first in the country, outside the restaurant premises to provide people a medium to donate. Taking the cue, Gurugram-based Rahul Khera, too, installed a refrigerator outside his society last year in Sector 54 with the help of other residents. “After our initiative, nearly five such societies in Delhi-NCR also installed a refrigerator outside their societies,” says Khera, an IT professional.

Volunteer/Good Samaritan Innovations

Many first-generation entrepreneurs are also setting up volunteer-led organisations to transport excess food to places and people in dearth. Delhi-based non-profit Feeding India is one such organisation that began operations in April 2014 to work towards the “cause of hunger and food wastage”. The organisation has partnered with around 3,800 shelter homes across the country where it provides food as an incentive to assist people to get out of the poverty cycle. “We give food to people in shelter homes as an incentive to come to school or a skill development centre… the aim is to not make them dependent on us giving them food… that way, they won’t work… the food is given so that these people get out of the poverty cycle eventually,” says Srishti Jain, co-founder, Feeding India.

Robin Hood Army, a volunteer-based organisation, is another frontrunner in this domain, helping surplus food reach the needy with the help of volunteers whom it calls ‘robins’. While Feeding India is present in 65 cities across the country, Robin Hood Army has its presence in over 80 cities globally. Conceived and conceptualised in 2014 by Neel Ghose, Robin Hood Army has tie-ups with restaurants in cities it is operational in. Ghose was inspired by Portugal’s Re-Food Program which has volunteers collecting surplus food from restaurants and distributing it among the needy. Similarly, the ‘robins’ collect food from the food partners and serve it at shelter homes, basis, to people living under flyovers, outside hospitals, etc. “Our mission is simple: eradicate food wastage and world hunger,” says Aarushi Batra, co-founder of Robin Hood Army.

Another interesting initiative has been taken up by the dabbawallas of Mumbai who are famous the world over for delivering tiffins to around two lakh people daily for the past 125 years. In December 2015, the dabbawallas took up the cause of feeding the needy. Under their ‘Roti Bank’ initiative, the dabbawallas collect surplus and leftover food from weddings, etc, and give it to the hungry and homeless in Mumbai, feeding roughly 150-200 people every day.

Not just community organisations, but hospitality leaders are also working for the cause. From installing water recycling plants to waste converters, they are doing their bit too. In June 2016, ITC Maurya in Delhi set up an on-site waste recycling plant—Bio-Urja—which uses leftover food and minimal water to operate. “Leftover food from the banquet is used in the plant, which is installed on the hotel premises. The gas from it is used in the employee cafeteria as cooking fuel. Soon, it will be a chain-wide initiative,” says Manisha Bhasin, senior executive chef, ITC Maurya, Delhi.

Initiatives at other stages in the Food Chain

It may be useful to look at the food production, distribution, and consumption process and practices to examine options for reducing food loss and waste.

At the farm end, food production covers activities involving harvesting and sorting. During harvest, technology may play a critical role in the efficiency of the harvesting process, as less than-efficient processes may leave a percentage of the crop in the field. Another factor could be the timing of the harvest. A farmer would want to time the harvest with market dynamics. Better information on prices and access to various buying centres would ease decision-making on the timing of the harvest. A certain portion of the harvest would be ‘unmarketable’ due to natural anomalies in shape, colour, size, and other physical deformities of the harvest. This along with crop-residue is typically left in the field, burnt, or used as animal feed on the farm. Mechanisms and markets for such portions may be developed to better utilize them. Options ranging from composting to conversion to fuel and energy for use on the farm can be explored. These could be explored as a collective facility, as small farm sizes may not justify the individual investment.

Handling and Storage

Post-harvest activities involving handling the produce, storage, and logistics comprise the next critical stage of the food production chain. As has been reported earlier, a significant portion of the harvest is lost to inadequate or absent storage facilities. Prioritizing the development of storage facilities and allied transport and communication networks through various agencies is critical. The private sector– especially the food processing industry can play a big role in developing this supply chain element. Indigenous technologies like evaporative coolers, HDPE storage bags, metal silos, and containers can be employed to enhance the shelf-life of perishables like fruit and vegetables. Low-carbon technologies can be explored for the development of efficient cold-chain systems. Skill development in handling and sorting can also lead to a significant reduction in food loss.

Processing and Packaging

In India, there is considerable scope for the development of the food processing and packaging industry to take up market slack, balancing the supply and demand inconsistencies. However, the food processing sector accounts for a significant share of food loss and waste due to heavy mechanization and requirements of standardization. Here, there is a need to re-engineer the production processes to enhance efficiency and create nets to catch process rejects. Stricter legislation can play an effective role in monitoring and control of various processes aimed at reducing, recycling, and reusing. Suitable incentives and economic ‘nudges’ can be created to improve processing, packaging, and labeling to keep food usable for longer and optimize package/portion sizes.

Distribution and retail

At the retail level, legislation aimed at the donation of unsold inventory through social organizations is important. Sharing of suitable infrastructures like storage freezers between retailers /restaurants/hotels and distribution organizations can save duplication of resources and ensure quality in the distribution of such surpluses to the needy. In-store promotions can also be tweaked to create appropriate demand shifts to meet food loss concerns at the retail end. Social media and other apps can be used for disseminating information about availability and prices among consumers to further stimulate demand.

As noted earlier, legislation has very limited scope in preventing food waste at the consumption stage. This is primarily due to cultural and behavioral issues involved. Behavior change at the consumer level can be attempted by creating awareness, avenues, motivations, and rewards through social campaigns like advertising, digital media, work-shops, inclusion in school curricula, entrepreneurship, and facilitation.

It may be noted that legislative control of food loss and waste appears to be effective when targeting upstream supply chain activities like production, storage, transportation, manufacturing, and service sectors. In these areas, legislative control has been shown to have met with effective results, in Japan. At the consumer level, the efficacy of legal provisions appears to be mixed as implementation at the micro-level is difficult for already stretched resources of the local bodies, if tasked with such control. If relatively resource-rich bodies in developed countries are finding it difficult to implement food waste prevention laws, it is certainly going to be difficult in the Indian context. The role of legislation may be more of setting the context and direction rather than regulatory in the strictest sense, it is more descriptive than prescriptive in molding consumer behavior. A larger and more effective role may be played by social and voluntary organizations in awareness creation, driving social change at various levels, and also implementation at the consumption stage. A micro-planning approach to understanding the dynamics of food consumption behavior is essential to make a serious dent in food loss and waste menace.

• # circular economy
• # composting
• # food waste

Essay on Food Waste in English for Children and Students

Essay on Food Waste

Introduction

Food is one of our basic needs. It is important for everyone, whether rich or poor. But it is a fact that the King has plenty of food, while a poor wanders for his one-time meal. It is found that one, who has plenty of food, often wastes it.

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The wastage of food starts right from its production to the final consumption. While storing the grown crop, lots of food wastes because of improper storage. Purchasing more than the needed food in restaurants and hotels is also a major reason for food wastage. Sometimes, there is food prepared more than needed in our houses, which brings the wastage of lots of food. The food, prepared in the marriages and other functions, also causes food wastage in a huge amount.

There should be proper planning of the food storage. Also, we should buy and cook only the needed amount of food. Instead of wasting food in marriages and other functions, we can distribute them among hungry poor people. There are lots of ways to avoid food wastage.

There are many families across the world living without food. Think about them and start feeding them whenever it is possible, instead of wasting it. Food is for everyone, not for one.

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Mongabay Series: Climate Connections , Environment And Health

• Agriculture has a plastic problem and it’s threatening the future of food 
• Plasticulture, the application of synthetic polymer-based technologies in agriculture, has found wide ranging uses, making it an integral part of food production today.
• Agricultural plastics are single-use or short-lived, and have been found to be a major source of micro and nanoplastics in the soil, which can have a long term impact on our health and environment.
• Experts suggest that it is time to recognise the chemical and ecotoxicological aspects of agri plastics and developed more sustainable alternatives.

Sridhar Jayagouda, a young farmer in Alarwada village on the outskirts of Belagavi city in Karnataka, is preparing for the monsoon crop of paddy by clearing beds of capsicum his family recently harvested. Once the plants are uprooted, he pulls out thin films of plastic covering the raised soil beds. That’s about 40,000 feet or 12 km of single-use plastic mulching sheet from his five-acre farm, every season.

“What other alternatives do farmers have?” Jayagouda asks. Plastic mulching is economical, it suppresses weed growth and reduces cost of labour significantly. “Our production has improved,” he says. Like many other farmers in this fertile swath of north Karnataka, Jayagouda adopted plastic mulching and drip irrigation five years ago.

Agriculture today is awash with plastics. Used in applications such as mulch films, shade nets, polyhouses, irrigation pipes, pond liners, and storage silos, plastics are integral to food production, processing, marketing, and consumption. They are also found in polymer-coated agrochemicals.

Jayagouda represents a growing number of Indian farmers who have shifted from traditional methods of using biomass mulch and manual weeding to plastic films fitted snugly over raised beds. Mulching, which involves covering soil beds to suppress weed growth, evaporation, and improve the microclimate around the roots, boosts productivity.

The growth of plasticulture 

Plasticulture is the application of plastics in agriculture. Introduced in India in the 1980s, it has seen exponential growth in the last decade. Plastic mulch, along with drip irrigation, is used in about 90% of “protected agriculture”, the cultivation of high-value horticulture crops in greenhouses, according to the agricultural scientists Mongabay India spoke to.

Polymer mulch of 15 to 30 micron thickness is among the fastest growing technologies of plasticulture; it is now being applied in open fields across the country. For context on thickness, plastic carry bags with thickness less than 120 microns are banned in India, as prescribed by the Plastic Waste Management Amendment Rules, 2021.

A one-acre farm requires approximately 8000 feet or 2.4 km of plastic mulch, most of which is single-use plastics. In the long term, the degradation and breakdown of these agri-plastics into micro and nano-plastic particles (MNPs) poses a potentially irreversible threat to food safety and security .

Microplastic is everywhere

Recently, news of the presence of microplastics in sugar and salt sold in India made headlines. Although it has raised concerns about quality and regulation, the impact of agricultural production and consumption on microplastics in food is not widely discussed.

Food systems are a major driver of plastic pollution. Microplastics (diameter less than five millimetres) and nanoplastics (diameter less than one micrometre) are everywhere , accumulating in soil , water , and our food . Historically, micro and nano plastics in the deepest reaches of oceans have been under focus, but now researchers say that MNPs in soil, sediments and freshwater may be an estimated four to 23 times higher , depending on the environment. They have been detected in the tissues and organs of terrestrial and marine life. Researchers warn of potentially life-threatening effects from plastic pollution, with raised risk of stroke and heart attack linked to MNPs in blood vessels. Polypropylene fibres have been found abundantly in human lungs , pointing at inhalation as a route of microplastic exposure; its presence in human faeces has been linked to inflammatory bowel disease; and MNPs were found in all the human placenta tested for a study.

In 2019, agriculture value chains used 12.5 million tonnes of plastic and food packaging contributed to 37.3 million tonnes globally, according to the Food and Agricultural Organisation ( FAO, 2021 ). It forecasts a 50% increase in demand for agriplastics by 2030. Moreover, only about five percent of plastics used is recycled.

India’s Ministry of Agriculture states that the agricultural plastic industry forecasts the global demand for greenhouse, mulching and silage films to increase by 50 percent from 6.1 million tonnes in 2018 to 9.5 million tonnes in 2030.

In India, the issue of plastic pollution in agriculture has largely been overlooked — plasticulture is being celebrated for its role in ushering in a “ second green revolution ” in food production. The Indian government supports this approach by offering 50% subsidies on various plasticulture applications, particularly to boost horticultural production.

Climate change as a driver

Adverse climatic events have increased the popularity of plastic use in India, say Indian agricultural scientists. “Plasticulture technology like micro irrigation with mulching helps farmers combat situations such as heat waves,” says Rakesh Sharda, project coordinator, All India Coordinated Research Project on Plastic Engineering in Agricultural Structures and Environment Management, ICAR-Central Institute of Post Harvest Engineering and Technology, Ludhiana.

However, plastics consist of a complex mix of over 16,000 different chemicals , with around a quarter known to be hazardous to human health. These chemicals can leach out throughout the plastic lifecycle, providing direct pathways for toxic substances to enter the food chain.

In plastics in agriculture, this process is influenced by factors such as sunlight, mechanical degradation, exposure to various chemicals and pH levels. Global warming could also exacerbate this. Studies indicate that heatwaves hasten polymer degradation and scientists are calling for a revision of polymer safety specifications, so they are more resilient against rising temperatures.

While plastic-based solutions may improve food production and farmer profitability in the short term, the challenge of retrieving and recycling it is enormous, and plastic waste management value chains are poor.  For instance, in the absence of an alternative, most farmers, including Jayagouda, burn the plastic mulch films after use, oblivious of the pollutants they are releasing into the air, soil and water in the process.

Food security and environmental safety today face a range of conflicting challenges. “Some plastic applications, such as mulch, can reduce the use of water, pesticides, and herbicides in some cases, and are cost-effective for farmers. However, the impacts on soil health and the subsequent effects on food production, food security, and nutrition are only beginning to gain mainstream attention, and they are raising concerns among policymakers,” says Joe Yates of the London School of Tropical Medicine, who, along with fellow scientist Megan Deeney, is on the Working Group on Food Systems of the Scientists Coalition for Effective Plastics Treaty .

With mounting evidence of the adverse impacts of micro and nanoplastics, scientists are urging countries to take action. However, this global call to action to address plastic pollution is in conflict with national agendas focused on increasing food production and farmer income.

More plastics for food security 

Feeding a global population expected to reach 10 billion by 2050 exerts a great deal of pressure on the environment. Agricultural production has led to 70% of the groundwater extraction and 75% of deforestation, globally. In India, agriculture presents additional challenges of low productivity, improper use of natural resources, and now, increased frequency of climatic events. Precision agriculture, also known as protected area farming, a farming management strategy that uses technology to improve agricultural production and sustainability, poses a solution.

“Currently, 275,000 ha are covered by precision agriculture in India. Of this, over 90% is covered by plastic mulch, which has seen a steep rise in use in the past decade,” points out Rajesh Kumar Singh, head of department, Hydrology and Engineering, Indian Institute of Soil and Water Conservation, Dehradun. Singh was the former Project Coordinator of All India Coordinated Research Project (Plasticulture Engineering & Technology), ICAR.

The National Committee for Precision Agriculture and Horticulture (NCPAH, earlier known as National Committee for Plasticulture in Agriculture and Horticulture) has the mandate to promote plasticulture, and recommend suitable policy measures, through various central and state government schemes and mission programmes.

Its report on the Impact Assessment of Indian Precision Agriculture and Plasticulture Sector Post COVID-19, reveals that farmers who used plastic mulch reported a 20-30% increase in crop yields, with better quality produce that year. Farmers also reported a “reduction of 90-95% of manual labour for weeding and increase in irrigation interval”.

Drip irrigation for water conservation

Drip irrigation efficiency is 90% as opposed to 38% of surface irrigation, says Singh. However, drip irrigation uses HDPE (High-density Polyethylene) pipes. The main pipes are covered and buried in soil, for 10 to 15 years.  “Around 69 million ha of cultivable land has the potential for drip irrigation, which will amount to substantial water saving,” he adds. Similarly, greenhouses and polytunnels increase productivity up to four fold. In his 2018 report titled Status of Plasticulture Technologies in India , Singh says agricultural output can be increased by Rs. 74,000 crores through plasticulture.

The multifarious applications of plastics has spawned the growth of micro, small and medium manufacturing units for plasticulture products. About 50,000 plastic processing plants and 18,000 injection moulding plants are active across India. However information on the regulatory environment is hard to come by. As per a report by the NCPAH, India is the third largest user of plastic after the U.S. and China, even though its per capita consumption of 6 kg (to 9.7 kg in some reports) is lower than the world average of 26 kg.

While not all plastics may be replaced with safer and more sustainable alternatives, products like single-use plastic mulching replacing biomass raises the question of whether we are trading short-term agronomic benefits for long-term environmental damage.

“Once long-term plastic, microplastics, and nanoplastics pollution begins to threaten food security, there may be little chance of recovery. The harms caused by pesticides and herbicides are relatively well understood, but the role of these chemicals in many food system plastics is less recognised,” says Yates, explaining the pathways through which these chemicals of concern enter the environment.

The hidden cost of spotless choice

The political economy of agriculture and food policies plays a role in shifting practices. In Tamil Nadu’s Chengalpattu and Viluppuram districts, watermelon farmers began to adopt plastic mulch once traders began to prefer melons grown on plastic mulch.

Ajay T.M., joint managing trustee of Magasool, a Chennai-based trust that works on reducing farm inputs and improving farmer income says, “Ten years ago about 10% of the farmers used plastic mulch, today 60% to 70% have adopted it. Melons develop a discolouration where the fruit rests on soil bunds, which does not occur when bunds are covered in plastic mulch. These spotless fruits are preferred by export markets, and customers,” says Ajay, adding that unless consumer awareness and preference shifts from beautiful-looking produce to chemical-free produce, farmers will comply.

“Agricultural pollution needs the same kind of attention as industrial pollution,” says Soumik Banerjee, member of the Alliance for Sustainable and Holistic Agriculture (ASHA) Kisan Swaraj network. While it may not be possible to replace all plastic applications, Banerjee says that traditional agriculture provides alternative solutions to some. “Practices such as multi-cropping and intercropping are a good alternative to plastic mulching,” he says.

As Ajay says, farmers need suitable and sustainable alternatives that don’t impact their incomes or increase labour, and are as effective as plastic.

A sustainable solution is in linking agricultural intensification with ecosystem protection, backed by sustainable technological innovation . “Given the scale and magnitude of the plastics crisis, farmers and consumers cannot solve it alone. Responsibility for systemic change lies at a much higher level. When UN Member States resolved in 2022 to negotiate a legally binding agreement on plastics pollution, they recognised that the world needs systems-level, globally coordinated action,” says Yates.

Banner image: Strawberries grown in Germany using plastic mulching. Plastic has become integral to food production, processing, marketing, and consumption globally with its application extended to mulch films, shade nets, polyhouses, irrigation pipes, pond liners, and storage silos. Image courtesy Fischer.H via Wikimedia Commons ( CC BY-SA 4.0 ).

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National Nutrition Week: Food Wastage In India, Its Implications on Nutrition and Sustainability

INDIANS waste as much food as the whole of United Kingdom consumes – a statistic that may not so much indicative of our love of surfeit, as it is of our population. Still, food wastage is an alarming issue in India. Our street and garbage bins, landfills have sufficient proof to prove it.

Weddings, canteens, hotels, social and family functions, households spew out so much food. according to the united nations development programme, up to 40% of the food produced in india is wasted. about 21 million tonnes of wheat are wasted in india and 50% of all food across the world meets the same fate and never reaches the needy. in fact, according to the agriculture ministry, inr 50,000 crores worth of food produced is wasted every year in the country., the nutritional loss, one of the most pressing implications of food wastage is the loss of essential nutrients that could have been utilized to address india’s malnutrition challenges. as millions of indians struggle to access adequate nutrition, the wastage of nutrient-rich foods exacerbates the problem. fruits, vegetables, dairy, and protein sources are often discarded before reaching consumers, resulting in the loss of vitamins, minerals, and proteins that are vital for health., malnutrition remains a significant issue in india despite advancements in various sectors. the global hunger index ranks india 101st out of 116 countries in 2022, indicating serious levels of hunger and undernutrition. while india’s agricultural production has increased significantly over the years, this accomplishment is diminished by the large quantity of food that goes to waste., impact on sustainability, food wastage also takes a toll on environmental sustainability. the resources used in food production—such as water, energy, and land—become wasted when the food is discarded. the carbon footprint associated with producing, transporting, and processing wasted food contributes to greenhouse gas emissions. furthermore, when food waste ends up in landfills, it generates methane, a potent greenhouse gas that accelerates climate change., consider the scenario: a farmer invests substantial resources in cultivating a crop. this process requires water, fertilizer, labour, and energy. the harvested crop then travels through the supply chain, consuming additional energy during transportation and storage. if a significant portion of this food goes to waste, the resources invested in its production are squandered, along with the potential to feed those in need., root causes of food wastage, several factors contribute to food wastage in india. poor storage and inadequate infrastructure along the supply chain lead to spoilage. a lack of awareness among consumers about proper food storage and confusion between “best before” and “use by” dates can lead to premature disposal. additionally, market demands for aesthetically perfect produce result in rejection of imperfect-looking fruits and vegetables., india’s food supply chain is intricate, often involving numerous intermediaries, from farmers and traders to distributors and retailers. this complexity can lead to inefficiencies, with food getting lost at various points along the chain due to lack of proper handling, storage, and transportation facilities. improving supply chain management, including cold storage facilities, transportation infrastructure, and packaging, could significantly reduce food wastage., why is food wastage a problem, 1) 25% of fresh water used to produce food is ultimately wasted, even as millions of people still don’t have access to drinking water. when you calculate the figures in cubic kilometers, this is a bit more than an average river., 2) even though the world produces enough food to feed twice the world’s present population, food wastage is ironically behind the billions of people who are malnourished. the number of hungry people in india has increased by 65 million more than the population of france. according to a survey by bhook (an organization working towards reducing hunger) in 2013, 20 crore indians sleep hungry on any given night. about 7 million children died in 2012 because of hunger/malnutrition., 3) acres of land are deforested to grow food. approximately 45% of india’s land is degraded primarily due to deforestation, unsustainable agricultural practices, and excessive groundwater extraction to meet the food demand., 4) 300 million barrels of oil are used to produce food that is ultimately wasted., the minister of food processing harsimrat kaur badal seems to have chalked out a roadmap. yes, a map literally, which shows exactly what fruits and vegetables are grown and where., she says, “my ministry works as a catalyst. it has the potential for doing a couple of things which are the need of the hour. firstly, bring down food wastage. food is being wasted at the harvest point and during transportation. if the same food which is wasted can be processed, it would mean it could either be available in raw form or in bottled form at a price which is affordable to the aam aadmi.”, food wastage cripples a country’s economy to an extent that most of us are unaware. some measures that the government needs to take include containing wastage in transportation, improve storage facilities (the cold storage chain is 50% less than required and that too needs to be brought up to world standards), food processing also needs to be sped up so food is saved and wasted less to feed more., while you may not be able to reduce food lost during production, you can certainly reduce food at your personal level of food waste. every step taken in the right direction counts., reducing food wastage: a multifaceted approach, addressing the pressing issue of food wastage requires a multifaceted approach that involves the concerted efforts of governments, industries, and individuals. by collectively addressing the root causes of wastage and implementing strategic measures, we can significantly curb the losses incurred in the food production process., 1. educational campaigns, educational campaigns serve as powerful tools to transform consumer behavior and perceptions regarding food wastage. raising awareness about the consequences of wastage and highlighting the direct impact on nutrition and sustainability can stimulate mindful consumption. these campaigns can also educate individuals on simple yet impactful practices that can be integrated into their daily lives:, – proper storage techniques: educating consumers about the correct methods of storing perishable items can extend their shelf life and reduce the likelihood of premature spoilage., – effective meal planning: encouraging individuals to plan their meals can prevent overbuying and lead to the consumption of purchased food items before they go bad., – creative use of leftovers: promoting the idea of repurposing leftovers into new dishes not only reduces food wastage but also adds variety to meals., 2. improved supply chain management, efforts to improve supply chain management play a crucial role in reducing food wastage at every stage of the journey from farm to table:, – cold storage infrastructure: investing in robust cold storage facilities can prolong the freshness of perishable goods, reducing spoilage during transportation and storage., – transportation efficiency: modernizing transportation networks and employing efficient logistics can minimize delays and ensure that produce reaches consumers promptly, preserving its quality., – packaging innovation: developing sustainable packaging solutions that provide adequate protection to food items can help prevent damage during transit., 3. surplus redistribution, the redirection of surplus food from farms, restaurants, and households to those in need forms a compassionate and effective approach to food wastage mitigation:, – collaborations with ngos and food banks: collaborating with non-governmental organizations (ngos) and food banks facilitates the organized collection and distribution of surplus food to vulnerable populations., – minimizing food disposal: encouraging food establishments to partner with local initiatives for surplus food donation can prevent edible food from being discarded unnecessarily., 4. policy reforms, governments play a pivotal role in shaping the strategies and frameworks that combat food wastage:, – incentivizing food donation: implementing incentives, such as tax breaks, for businesses that donate surplus food to charitable organizations can encourage greater participation in food redistribution., – stricter food labeling guidelines: introducing clearer and more informative labeling regulations can help consumers make informed decisions about the freshness and safety of food products., – promoting sustainable practices: governments can advocate for sustainable waste management practices, such as composting and recycling of food waste, reducing the burden on landfills and minimizing environmental impact., 9 things to do, here’s what one can do on a more personal level to contain the food wastage:, 1) plan out your meal and make your shopping list to determine what you actually need for the week. about 20% of what we buy in urban india ends up being thrown away.  you could in the week after cut down on the surplus and soon in two or three weeks you will have a precise list of your family’s weekly consumption. you have no idea how amazed you will be at how much you buy and what you actually consume. needless to say that the difference is but naturally wasted., 2) buy in quantities you can realistically use. avoid impulse buys. it will more or less find the bin., 3) if you cook at home, make sure you cook keeping in mind there is no excess. you can always complete your meals with a few fruits rather than keep some extra food in the refrigerator. it’s a lot better and a healthier practice too., 4) select according to their shelf life. use the green vegetables first. don’t throw out fruits and veggies with ‘aesthetic only’ blemishes. use canned and bottled food before expiry dates., 5) reuse the refrigerated left-overs (if any) for the very next meal., 6) even if food gets spoilt then compost it., 7) if you work in an office that has a canteen, check with them on how they manage excess food. cooked food, especially since it has a low shelf life needs to be managed better and faster. check with ngos who offer to transport excess food to the needy., 8) if you host a family get together either at home, a marriage hall or throw a party at a hotel, make sure you plan for the food to be transported to a place like an orphanage or an old age shelter., 9) make finishing your plate a habit. try to inculcate it further to as many possible., success stories and initiatives, 1. “annakshetra” project in rajasthan, the “annakshetra” initiative in rajasthan stands as a beacon of hope in the battle against food wastage. by collecting surplus food from weddings and events, the project redistributes it to individuals in need. this innovative approach not only prevents wastage but also addresses food insecurity among marginalized communities, fostering a sense of social responsibility and care., 2. feeding india and robin hood army, organizations like feeding india and robin hood army have emerged as champions in the fight against food wastage. by channeling surplus food from various sources to those who lack access to proper nutrition, these initiatives bridge the gap between abundance and need, transforming food wastage into a tool for social betterment., 3. pune’s waste management initiatives, in pune, volunteers from the swachh association have established a forward-thinking system that segregates kitchen waste into biodegradable and non-biodegradable categories. the organic waste is then converted into compost, enriching the soil and reducing the amount of waste ending up in landfills. this holistic approach not only addresses food wastage but also contributes to the broader goal of waste management and environmental conservation., the multifaceted approach to reducing food wastage outlined above underscores the urgency of tackling this challenge through collaborative efforts. governments, industries, and individuals must recognize their roles in mitigating food wastage’s adverse effects on nutrition and sustainability. by raising awareness, optimizing supply chains, redistributing surplus food, and implementing policy reforms, we can collectively pave the way for a future where food resources are valued, utilized efficiently, and directed towards nourishing communities and preserving our planet. through such concerted actions, we not only combat food wastage but also sow the seeds of positive change for generations to come., related articles more from author.

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