How to avoid food wastage in parties?

This year United Nations Environment Program set the theme of World Environment Day 2013 as THINK EAT SAVE to convince people waste less food and save the resource depletion. If half of the food that is wasted all over the world per year is saved it may be enough to feed any of the starved countries of the world. Moreover half of the people who have to go to their bed hungry will be able to have their meal. Presently out of seven people one person goes to bed hungry according to confirm statistics of world hunger.

At home we can stop food from wasting through different ways because it ultimately benefits us. If we don’t waste food it will reduce our grocery bill. We will be able to invest that saved money to earn more. Ultimately we will have more money and higher standard of living. In this way we will be able to eat higher quality of food with more nutrition. Similarly while eating out we don’t waste food because we pay for it. If some food

is left we get it packed and take it to home for next meal. Then where we waste food?

Mostly we waste food when we find it in abundance. It means first of all we have to see where we find food without any quantity barrier like we get at home or in hotel. Usually on following occasions we are offered food without any limit.

• Wedding Party
• Office annual dinner
• Religious festival
• Philanthropist dole out
• Cultural parties

On all of the above occasions mostly it is treated against the etiquette if guests are requested to eat as much as they want but don’t waste it. Hosts don’t want to displease their guests. That is why no any guideline could be given to them. People just take the food not as much as they can eat but as much as they can fill in their plate. After that they eat and after getting fully fed they keep the plate with leftover food. This leftover food is ultimately thrown into dustbin and becomes garbage. In monetary terms if someone leaves half kilogram food in his plate it is of $5 and after becoming garbage its prices goes down to maximum half dollar. It means $4.5 is thrown into dustbin. Not only this, but the cost of disposing of that half kg garbage adds the total loss up to $5.

The only way out

The only way to avoid wasting food in parties is to develop habit of eating without wasting. This can be done only through raising public awareness. You cannot make a law to bind people to take out that much amount of food in their plate that they can eat otherwise they will be fined. The collective sense of responsibility can work here. In parties whatever we have in abundance can be shifted to those who can’t afford to eat one-time meal because of poverty. So the need is to publicize this message to convince people avoid wasting food in parties.