Saturday 17 May 2014

Don't Waste Food!

It was a special occasion, a special day- It was my birthday! The clock struck 8, I was dressed in my best attire with perfect heels and a black versace sling bag went left and right on my arm as i walked passed the doorway to rush to my husband in the car horning.
Dining at the most fancy place in Dubai, I felt a wave of perfect contentment. My husband always does this part of his job right to make me feel special. My view to a fancy restaurant was quite different, I always thought not many people would want to spend so much for just a dinner but obviously "there ain't no limit in Dubai". The restaurant was neither serene nor quiet, it was a market place with a humungous spread. The slogan eat till you die would fit perfect for that scenario. My stomach screamed when I had just finished my starters and there I was looking at the whole buffet which had the main course and a huge section of desserts, it was as if I am at the starting point of a race and I have already given up before it has started but still looking at it with yearning eyes to win it. It was indeed a gastrointestinal explosion!
On the way back a thought lingered from the restaurant where is all this remaining food stocked up there going to go now? I am sure 50% of the food will be wasted but are restaurants taking any initiative to avoid wastage of food or is it going to be trashed in the garbage cans?
That night i ate like a monster, I felt a shiver when suddenly as I was thinking about the food wastage happening in the world. Is every night food which is in excess at the restaurant is being wasted or end up finding its way into a landfill?
One question to be remembered to ask each restaurant manager while your dining at is-

  • What is happening to the remaining food?
  • Is it thrown away?


In a recent study it shows every year 1.3 billion tonnes of food is wasted globally.Whats  even more frightening to hear is 870 million people around the world do not have food to eat. One target to reach to the needy people are the restaurants where there is so much of excess food.  On my research on why the restaurants do not take this initiative is they try to avoid the quality control of food till it reaches the needful. They find throwing the food into landfills more convenient and less time consuming. But what they fail to understand is that they can save a million lives at the cost nothing. 
According to the food and agricultural organisation GCC tops the food wastage in the middle east. The beautiful city Dubai flaunts its beauty and has worldwide admirers but one side the city is running out of landfills waste. Every day in the world one out of five children are dying. I cried that night and thanked God for dining at that heaven. The world needs us, "we have choices to what to eat but few people have no choice but to starve to death".
At home-
  • Shop what is required
  • Fresh food is always healthy, do not stock up
  • Do not over cook
  • Find people in need to give away excess food
  • Teach your children the value of a morsel
  • Avoid thinking of your reputation and society
Remember stopping food waste begins at home. We need to take few steps to make world a better place.
"Today i ate roasted beef,
Tomorrow my mother cooked a fish in leaf.
I wish to have a start-bucks coffee
I picked up a carmel toffee
I ate and ate and ate
what if one day there is nothing on my plate?
#donotwastefood

12 comments:

  1. Wow very nice way to put across DONT WASTE FOOD..... Indeed we should start at home n yes restaurants n hotels need to start sending their excess food to the needy instead of dumping it down the trash. Well written worth a read.

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    1. Yes we should all take few steps and encourage us and our family members and instil in them the value of food. There are many organisation worldwide helping this cause of course we can do are bit :)

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  2. interesting and thoughtful we should do something about this infact the uae govt should do something about it.

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    1. Yes the government and the FAO UAE have taken steps to make this awareness but we have to start at home to stop the wastage n become smarter in choice of restaurants n places. Lets begin:)

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  4. Haaaaaaaaaaaaaall.... Ur a rockstar man!!! im so impressed, escpecially with the way u concluded it. its a brilliant message, i really hope and wish that every individual arises and acknowledge this fact and contribute towards the betterment of the lower class by making simple efforts as mentioned by u. One should not be ignorant & if chose to do so, then will eventually feel the hit that would be way too intense

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    1. Yes ashmita ignorance is the cause of all the problems. Lets create awareness and spread the message.

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  5. sooo truee stoppin waste of food begins at homee ... InshaAllah lets cooks d lil amount thats required n finish our plates before we get up from the table ....n lets teach our children d same rite from the start.... lovly thought halimaa <3 <3 <3....

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