Say no to food wastage!

We all have been taught since our growing up days about how wastage of food is absolutely bizarre and what can we do to avoid it. But the question is, are we doing it right? The statistics of food wastage have reached unimaginative numbers and are increasing drastically each day. More than 200 crores worth of food is wasted each day in our country, and the part which is going to startle you, even more, is that billions of people sleep on an empty stomach every night because they don’t have the resources to buy food for themselves. No wonder a large part of our country’s population is considered to be malnourished till date.

Every individual can help in a lot of ways. Here are some practical and doable ways to avoid food wastage.

Listing always helps

Whenever you’re going out to buy groceries, make sure you have a list handy with you. This will prevent excessive buying and you won’t end up purchasing more than what’s required.

Store the right way

One of the most important factors contributing to food wastage is that the edibles are not stored in the correct way. For longevity, vegetables like potatoes, garlic, onions, etc., should always be stored at room temperature.

Creativity is the key

If there’s a lot of leftover food from yesterday’s party, make sure you do not discard it. There’s a lot you can do with it to create some amazingly delicious stuff. Make laddoos out of rotis, khichdi out of dal-chawal, bhurjis out of leftover idlis, etc. It’s an endless list. Just put on your creative thinking caps on!

Don’t discard the peels and  seeds

Vegetable trimmings can be used to make flavourful stocks; peels of bottle gourd, jackfruit seeds and raw papaya can be used for various cooking purposes like making fritters, tenderiser for meats or even a healthy addition to gravies.

Arrange and revamp

If you’re storing any leftover foods, make sure to refrigerate them in a way that they’re visible to your eyes. When you notice the food, you can plan a recipe, do some food experiments, and ensure it doesn’t end up in the garbage bins.

What about water?

Many people think the water which they use for washing or boiling vegetables needs to be discarded. But, on the contrary, it can be really useful. You can use it for cleaning purposes, watering plants andsimilar purposes.

Get less on your plate

Research and stats say that the highest wastage of food takes place in marriage functions, occasions and parties. People tend to take huge servings for themselves, without realising on their capacity to eat. Thus, end up wasting. You can always avoid this by taking small portions at a time. Nobody’s asking you to leave till the time your taste buds are satisfied!

Keep a track on the  waste

Ratan Tata, the renowned businessman has put up a board at his workplace about how much food is wasted, how many people can be fed with that amount of food to make sure the workers and employees avoid wastage. You can do it too, try to keep a track and reduce it each day. Small steps do make a difference.