STOP THE WASTE! Dumped food costs Bahrain BD94 million

MANAMA: Bahrainis waste the most food among all Arabs, according to a UN report.

At an average of 132kg per person, the dumped food cost Bahrain a whopping BD94.9 million last year, according to the UN Environment Programme’s (Unep)Food Waste Index.

People in Bahrain threw away 146,000 tonnes of food last year, the report added.

Globally more than 900m tonnes of food is thrown away every year, it said.

The index revealed that 17 per cent of the food available to consumers – in shops, households and restaurants – goes directly into the bin. Some 60pc of that waste is in the home.

The 923m tonnes of food being wasted each year would fill 23m 40-tonne trucks which, bumper-to-bumper, is enough to circle the Earth seven times.

It is an issue previously considered to be a problem almost exclusive to richer countries – with consumers simply buying more than they could eat – but this research found substantial food waste everywhere it looked.

According to Bahrain’s Conserving Bounties Society, food waste in the kingdom is estimated at more than 400 tonnes per day, with the number surging past 600 tonnes during Ramadan.

The society said it was able to conserve 1,390,000 meals which benefited more than 1,000 families. Ahead of major global climate and biodiversity summits later this year, Unep executive director Inger Andersen is pushing for countries to commit to combating waste – halving it by 2030. “If we want to get serious about tackling climate change, nature and biodiversity loss, and pollution and waste, businesses, governments and citizens have to do their part to reduce food waste,” she said.

Source: https://www.gdnonline.com/Details/938483/STOP-THE-WASTE-Dumped-food-costs-Bahrain-BD94-million