Somebody commented that Indians waste as much food as the whole of United Kingdom consumes. Even though poverty and droughts stare into our face every day, food wastage is an alarming issue in the country.
Our bazars, markets, streets and homes and dust bins bear testimony to this statement. It is as if Indians, who want their country a super power, are hell bent on to prove that their nation is no longer poor and their it is really suffering from surfeit of food.
Recently, United Nations Development Program said up to 40 pc of the food produced in the country is being wasted. As much as 21 million tonnes of wheat are wasted. In fact, agriculture ministry admits to the fact that about Rs. 50,000 crore worth of food produced is wasted every year in the country.
Now, the Hi-tech city Hyderabad has proven what UNDP and Union Agriculture Ministry said correct. Food wasted in Hotels, homes, functional halls, vegetable markets and hospitals form the half of the garbage generated in the fifth largest city in India, According to Robin Hood Army, a voluntary organization that works to get surplus food from restaurants to feed the less fortunate people in cities across India and Pakistan. Spoorthy of ‘ I Support Robin Hood Army’ revealed that their organization collects waste food to feed the poor in Hyderabad daily. Last month her organization fed more than 4000 poor with the surfeit food, which otherwise would have been thrown in to garbage bins, collected from hotels in Madhapur, Banjara Hills and other places in the city. ‘Lack of good is not a challenge. Food is available to anyone who needs it’, says GHMC in a report. Spoorthy said in order to avoid the food go waste they had tied up with several hotels in city, who give the leftover food to the organization so that they could feed poor.
There are over 20,000 registered hotels in Hyderabad city and the number would be more if road side stalls are included. Expert say about 10 to 20 pc food is wasted in the warehouses of Food Corporation of India. Imagine the quantum of wasted food in Hyderabad?
