A new international report claims the best way to deal with the escalating prices of food and the extended scarcity of water is to globally reduce the amount of wasted food.
Fifty perfect of food is ruined by inefficient packaging, harvesting, transportation and storage. The report was released last week by the Stockholm International Water Institute, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, and the International Water Management Institute. It claims that when massive amounts of food
are wasted, massive amounts of water are wasted as well. The report aims to suggest ways to conserve water through conserving food.
The report suggests that if government, industry and consumers would work together, food waste cold be cut in half by 2025. In order to conserve water, the report recommends utilizing rainwater for agriculture use, create incentives for consumers to cut back on their food waste, and present benchmark standards for the use of water in food production.
The agriculture industry uses eighty percent of the world's water resources. With the issue of climate change, more countries will be facing problems with water shortages. David Molden, a research director at the International Water Management Institute said, "It's likely we'll need two times the water by 2050 than what we need today. The challenge is to reduce the amount of water we need today". (Quote from Environmental News Network)
Wasted food in poor countries is usually linked to harsh weather conditions and pests. The report claims that agriculture production could double if countries could adopt water conservation technologies, such as the use of small dams that hold rainwater runoffs.
The report suggested that businesses abide by benchmark standards of how much water should be used to produce certain products. Businesses could supply a stamp on the packaging to show how much water was used.
A study done this year by the UK government, found wasted food is costing the UK 10 billion pounds each year. A study done in America found that Americans are wasting three times more food this year than they have been in the past 20 years.
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This post was written by Christine Pinella on May 28, 2008