Nowadays, food waste has become a global problem, many countries attempt to determine the cause of food waste to combat this issue. This problem has multiple causes, including consumer habits, lack of awareness and underestimating appearance of food products even though they are edible. However, there are also effective solutions that can help to reduce food waste.
One major reason of food waste is overproduction and consumer habit. People frequently buy more food than they need, leading to spoilage of this products before it can be consumed. Supermarkets and restaurants also purchase or prepare more food than necessary. If food lose their aesthetic appearance, such as misshapen fruits and vegetables, less people pay attention and buy them. To mitigate these problems, there are appropriate solutions. For example, to overcome the overproduction and consumer habit, supermarkets and restaurants can make a report of food supply and consumption over the certain period and then calculate necessary amount of products that they need monthly. Raising awareness among consumers about proper food storage or the value and meaning of food can help reduce household waste.
Another significant cause of food waste is inefficiencies in the supply of products. Due to poor storage and transportation conditions, food can be left over before it can be consumed or delivered to the restaurant or markets. Additionally, confusion over expiration dates leads many consumers to disposal of food. Many people believe that if product’s expiration date has passed, despite that food was in good conditions, products are not edible to consume. To combat these issues suppliers of food should ensure suitable conditions to transport food for food retails, in our modern world, there are a lot of opportunities for storage and transportation, for example lorries with provided air conditioning or bag refrigerator that keep products in appropriate conditions.
In conclusion, while food waste has become a complex issue, happening by consumer habits, inefficiency in the supply and lack of awareness. However, through improved logistic, making the report of consumption and providing awareness, we can reduce waste of food and mitigate this global issue.