The Economics of Food Wastage at the Consumer End.
In the year 2009, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations estimated
that approximately 32% of food produced was either lost or wasted, which was estimated based
on weight. Most food wastage occurs in developed countries considering per capita food wastage by consumers. In US, food waste is the biggest component of landfill and incinerators according to Environmental Protection Agency. Consumers in high-income countries jettison up to 30% of fruit and vegetable purchases and groom products up to 33% by weight during household recipe
preparation.
According to the 2013 Global Hunger Index (GHI), India ranks 63rd, among 78 hungriest countries, notably worse than its neighbors–Sri Lanka (43rd), Nepal (49th), Pakistan (57th),
and Bangladesh (58th). Despite India’s significant improvement over the past quarter century–
its GHI rating has risen from 32.6 in 1990 to 21.3 in 2013–the United Nations FAO believes that 17% of Indians are still too undernourished to lead a productive life. One-quarter of the world’s undernourished people dwell in India which is more than in all of Sub-Saharan Africa.
Food wastage represents a missed opportunity to feed the region’s ever-growing and existing population which should be acknowledged by every individual in the world. In terms
of economics of food wastage, food wastage has an inversely proportional relation with the producers and customers. Food wastage has a negative impact on the economy of the region by
lowering the income of the producers and increasing the price of food for consumers.
Adv Food Technol Nutr Sci Open J. 2016; 2(3): 110-112.doi: 10.17140/AFTNSOJ-2-137
