The end of the year festivities often encourage overeating. The beginning of a new year should mean looking forward to achieving progress on the question of food waste. The European Commission stressed that around 100 million tonnes of food are wasted annually in the EU. This figure could rise to 120 million tonnes by 2020. We are all responsible for this situation which is unacceptable in a world where malnutrition is still affecting hundreds of millions of people : farmers, food manufacturers, processors, retailers and of course, we, the consumers. And the overpopulation can only exacerbate the tensions due to food and water shortages. The figures mentioned by "The Guardian" are staggering: each year 1.3 billion tonnes of food, about a third of all that is produced, is wasted globally, including about 45% of all fruit and vegetable, 35% of fish and seafood, 30% of cereals, 20% of dairy products and 20% of meat ! In developing countries food waste is often due to poor equipment and infrastructure and in wealthy countries food waste is mainly due to consumers who throw away their food because they have purchased too much. Consequently, this food waste requires effort from all of us. That needs to start immediately !

Mo Tailland / 13th January 2016