At some point of time or other, you must have come across a group of urchins looking for food leftovers in the dustbin. It is indeed a common sight. Now hold on to that picture in your mind and read this –
According to Hindustan Times, around 67 million tonnes of food is wasted in India every year, which has a value of around Rs 92,000 crore. And it’s enough to feed all of Bihar for a year.
This value equals nearly two-thirds of the amount that the government needs to feed 600 million poor Indians with subsidised ration under the National Food Security programme.
Here are some more alarming facts that show how much food wastage there actually is:
1. India wastes as much food as is consumed by the United Kingdom, says the CSR journal.
2. According to a written statement given to the parliament in 2013 by former agriculture minister Sharad Pawar, nearly 40% of the total produce is wasted every year in the country.
3. Each year, around 21 million metric tonnes of wheat rots in India. The figure is almost equal to Australia’s total annual production.
4. To produce the food which ultimately gets wasted, India is estimated to use more than 230 cubic kilometres of fresh water annually, enough to provide drinking water to 100 million people a year.