Food wastage:- “In the United Kingdom, “a shocking 30-40% of all food is never eaten;”
- In the last decade the amount of food British people threw into the bin went up by 15%;
- Overall, £20 billion (approximately $38 billion US dollars) worth of food is thrown away, every year.
- In the US 40-50% of all food ready for harvest never gets eaten
- Of the food that does eventually reach households, some 14% is wasted, resulting in something like $43 billion of wastage
- If food reaching supermarkets, restaurants and cafeterias is added to the household figure, that wastage goes up to 27%.
- In Sweden, families with small children throw out about a quarter of the food they buy
- In some parts of Africa a quarter or more of the crops go bad before they can be eaten. More generally, high losses in developing nations are mainly due to a lack of technology and infrastructure as well as insect infestations, microbial growth, damage and high temperatures and humidity. “
If every family had a pet chicken they would
- be conscious of what they feed the hen and buy for their own consumption
- sort their waste into non-compostable waste and good food for the hen
- eliminate their huge waste of food
- get eggs from happy hens
- Children would understand better where food comes from.
- having a pet can give people a lot of joy, ease depression
- help empower people through simple solutions about the massive global problems
- develop a sense of responsibilty and belonging which fosters peace.
http://www.globalissues.org/issue/235/consumption-and-consumerism Research discovered by C Hope – one of our permaculture course participants