Reducing waste

[mylittlefrog1218]

The essay, “Food security: The challenge of feeding 9 billion people”, clearly tells us that we are now have issue of shortage of food because of growing population. However, growth in food production depends on lots of internal and external factors. One thing we can do is to reduce waste. In the essay, it says “roughly 30 to 40 per cent of food in both the developed and developing worlds is lost to waste, though the causes behind this are very different.” I remember when I was living in Singapore, a tropical country, there were many markets which were called “wet market” by local people, outdoors and were not in an air-conditioned space. All kinds of food, including meat, fruits, vegetables and produced food were displayed in an air temperature. To reduce waste, vendors can store meat in the fridge, then it will definitely keep meat fresh and length the life of the meat. In addition, mist equipment can be installed to water the vegetables and vendors can also regularly check the fruits to make sure to pick out the bad ones in order not to spoil the whole bunch of the fruits.

Discussion question: if you are the vendor, will you consider to install equipment such as fridge and mist system which will consume electricity and of course there is also an expense on the equipment and installation?

Comments

[flames_fan]

If I were a food vendor, I think it would be necessary to invest in equipment to keep my products fresher for longer. With less of the products spoiling, the long term gain from those sales would easily outweigh the operating cost of the equipment.

Answer to Discussion Question

[taylormay]

Yes if I were a food vendor I would consider installing equipment that would help preserve the shelf life of my food. I would have to determine the cost of buying and installing the equipment and running cost, to make sure this investment would be profitable.

[japanlove]

I would definitely install proper food storage systems at my store if I were the vendor. Although by doing so, it would increase the cost of the food for sale. However, it would promote food safety and cleanliness. If I were the consumer, I would not mind spending a little more to buy better quality foods.

[paisley1002]

yes!I would invest equipment to keep food fresh and safety. Food safe is also a important thing to consider.It also reduce the chance to waste food.