29th September has been the International Day of Awareness of Food Loss and Waste, a scope to increase awareness of practices and modernizations for minimizing food waste and loss and building a more flexible food system. The wasted food affects the environment and the health and livelihoods of humans; it accounts for nearly eight percent of every greenhouse gas emission, 28 million tonnes of pesticides and fertilizers, and 24 percent of the freshwater utilized in agriculture. In addition, the International Day of Awareness of Food Loss and Waste is celebrated each year on the 29th of September. It is a day to call for action concerning the private and public sectors to emphasize efforts and modernizations in minimizing food waste and loss worldwide.

The background of the International Day of Awareness of Food Loss and Waste

  • The food became commercialized and went from farm to table and factory to table. Subsequently, the family members began to waste food as it had been less expensive and more accessible in the age of industrialization. 
  • Minimizing food loss and waste has been of the utmost importance in the universe, in which a lot of human beings have been affected by hunger, is slowly on the rise since 2014, and tonnes of food is wasted each day. 
  • The Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations was established in 1945 to defeat hunger in the universe, and they have made many paces to obtaining this, including meeting up in December 2019 to collectively set up a day concerning the International Day of Awareness of Food Loss and Waste of which 29th September had been selected.  
  • 29th September 2020 marked the first observance of the International Day of Awareness of Food Loss and Waste.

The subject matter of the International Day of Awareness of Food Loss and Waste

  • The theme or subject of the International Day of Awareness of Food Loss and Waste in 2022 has been ‘Stop Food Waste! For People and! Planet.  
  • Thousands of human beings in the entire universe suffer from hunger, and a nearly similar amount of edible food is wasted daily.
  • Minimizing food waste and losses has been of tremendous significance, and the food systems have been seriously threatened by food waste and loss. When food gets lost, every resource necessary for creating it, like labor, energy, land, capital, and water, gets wasted.      

The phase of the International Day of Awareness of Food Loss and Waste

  • The food supply chain in several nations has been on course for overtaking land usage and farming as the most significant contributor to greenhouse gases.  
  • In the supply chain, the size of the food loss after harvest has been approximately fourteen percent, and the consumption waste and retail have been assumed to be seventeen percent.
  • Human beings could obtain instant climatic benefits by minimizing the loss of food and waste to improve the real sustainability of the food systems.
  • Such World Food Day could depict the importance of minimizing food waste and loss that has been effective in making sure that no one has been left behind because the agri-food systems are changed towards becoming more sustainable, comprehensive, effective, and flexible for better nutrition, production, and the environment with a better life. 

The segment of International Day of Awareness of Food Loss and Waste

  • The dream of a universe free from malnutrition and hunger in which nobody has been left behind should be realized, and humans possess a balance.
  • Human beings could be kind towards those who often lack food by respecting it, only buying what they need and wasting less.
  • Everyone, including young people, might contribute toward a better future by acting with more consciousness and accountability.
  • Maximizing the benefits of minimizing food loss and waste needs better governance, the growth and development of group work, human capital, and partnerships.
  • The governments, civic community, commercial firms, development firms, consumers, and academic and research institutions should take necessary actions in reducing food waste and loss as it has been a shared duty.