People throw away 1.3 billion tons of food every year, while the Earth's ecological resources are gradually depleting, and the total number of people who are regularly malnourished reaches 800 million. A report published today by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) indicates that after 30 years, our planet could be swept by food shortages.
According to representatives of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, about 31% of all food products are simply thrown away today. The fund emphasizes that even a quarter of the amount of food discarded is enough to feed all chronically malnourished people on Earth.
The largest amount of food is thrown away by citizens of Europe and North America, often food spoils even before it gets into the hands of consumers - in warehouses, bases and counters. At the same time, ecologists note that for the cultivation of agricultural crops, people have mastered more than half of the fertile territories of the planet, and the love of seafood has already led to the disappearance of many species of marine life, among which are rare.
In order to avoid a catastrophe and a food shortage, WWF proposes to monitor their diet already in 2050 by reducing the use of semi-finished products and increasing the use of seasonal and local products, especially of plant origin. The fund also calls for the creation of a system of environmental certification to create conditions for creating environmentally friendly products and organizing their production.
Lyudmila Stepnova