Think, don't bin it (Food Poverty)

The levels of food poverty in the world continue to be a problem and one that we never really see unless it is thrust in front of us on some charity night on the television. Then we make our donation and that makes us feel like we have done our bit and carry on without thinking about. The reason we don't think about it is we live part of the world where the supermarkets that are full of food, with the only indicator that there are those without food is a generally a collection point for the local food bank.

This carrying on without thinking in Britain means we throw away 7.2 million tons of food every year from our homes, let alone what gets thrown away by supermarkets and the food industry which takes the total up to 15 million tons. In terms of food brought for the home, that is almost fifty percent of food and drink that we buy and it is estimated that at least half of this we could have used. The reason it occurs is that we either don't use it in time or we prepare too much food and waste it. The thing is we don't have to waste this food. Not doing so would at the best help reduce prices and help the environment by reducing the use of landfill. It would also save us money, about £60 a month for the average family according to research.

Globally over the years we we have found ways to increased irrigation and improve fertilization which results in increased food production, however the world still has been consumes more food that it is able to produce and the problem is getting worse. This is not helped in some of the poorer counties by producing food for rich counties which then waste the food. In fact, Britain can't feed it's own population and foolishly we continue to build on agricultural land reducing our food production capacity. As global warming takes hold we will find can't rely on imports from our current suppliers in warmer counties and prices will rise.

Avoiding talking about the future for a moment and looking at the current situation, a lots of vegetables are wasted each year in Britain and lot of this food imported from around the world and not grown in the UK. In fact 50% vegetables are imported and 95% of fruit. Some of these countries that grow the food are themselves unable to feed their own populations. If we didn't buy the food and waste it then the land in these countries could be used for feeding the ingenious population as well as providing food for world markets. It made worse in some counties such as Kenya which grow flowers for the UK market on land that could be used for producing food. Something we could all grow in our own garden.

Another problem with the Britain is over consumption of food by the population as a whole which deprives people in poor countries of food. In the UK current 25% of the population is obese and another 37% are overweight. Basically people are consuming more food than they require this goes on the body as fat which is used by the body for times when food isn't so plentiful, evolutionary this was important given the nature of natural food production. However, we aren't using the bodies storage system in the wrong sort of for use in the UK food is plentiful and we do this at the expense of the poor counties of the world. We are not the worse in the world, the US probably tops that league, but it something to think about when we but extra food we don't need.

Clearly over consumption and waste the food in the UK and other rich counties is a big issue and it does lead to food poverty in other parts of the world just because they produce food for us rather than themselves. The reasons this occurs for this are complex but we can all do something about it in our own little way. Here some of things I came up with:

• Look at what you buy and workout where you are wasting food by putting it in the bin, then plan your menu for the week accordingly to avoid waste and save money. Think every bit of food you put in the money is money you are throwing away.

• Check your not wasting food because you are cooking too much food and at the end of the meal you are just scrapping your pennies into the kitchen bin. The land that food was grown on could be used to feed someone else and food not consigned to a landfill.

• Buy British where possible and if that isn't possible seasonal food produced in Europe, this will encourage the governments of poorer counties to grow food their own population. It also has the side effect of supporting the national and local economy by keeping money in Britain if you buy British.

• Encourage supermarkets to put ethics before profit and support the fair trade movement, which makes sure the farmers get a fair price for their the food they produce. This puts more money into the economy of the poor counties meaning people have the money in these counties to buy food.

• Educated yourself and your children not to waste food or eat food they don't need, this will reduce obesity and save the the country a fortune in weight related health issues. It is good for everyone and good for the future of the country.

• Avoid buying produce like flowers from counties that are short of food, especially those in Africa to encourage proper land use in these countries, this also has the effect of helping the environment too by reducing air freight.

• Check you are storing your foods correctly and remember best before dates are manufactures recommendations of when the food will be at its best not an indication of when it has gone off. Check your senses as well as the dates on the food before you throw it away.

• Finally go through your cupboards and look at the dates of those tins you have pushed to the back and forgotten, they might be reaching there best before dates. You have two choices when you find them, either use them or give them to the local food bank. Food poverty is an increasing in problem in Cameron's Britain with decreasing standards of living and cuts to the welfare system.

Clearly there is a lot we can do individually at home to save food and prevent waste but there is more we can do as a country too. The Governments around the world do there bit by advising and giving advice on food growing technology to other counties, but this comes at a price for the poorer counties. The technology is often produced or manufactured in the the richer countries and requires foreign currency that can only be earned from selling the food it is used produce back to the richer counties. We as a world need to put pressure on the richer counties to do more and help find local solutions for the poor counties, stop eating their food and do all than can to make food poverty a thing of the past. It is a big problem and it requires a lot of thought to solve but I'm going to try and do my bit.