About the Fundraiser
Dear steemians
Food wastage is a global problem. According to Food and Agriculture organization (FAO) of the UN, approximately one third of the food produced for the human consumption, which amounts to 1.3 billion tones, gets lost or wasted.
India is second largest population in the world. In 2012, government announced that about 22% of Indian population lives below poverty line. According to FAO estimates in ‘The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the world, 2017’ report, 190.7 million people are undernourished in India. This represents 14.5% of the Indian population, which makes India, the home to largest undernourished population in the world.
In spite of this, it is estimated by the UN that nearly 40% of the food produced in India is wasted or lost. And this cost India one lakh crore rupees every year.
Food wastage in India is happening at every level; from harvesting, transporting, processing, packaging and consuming.
Weddings, events, restaurants, hostels and houses are a major source for food wastage of cooked food. There are many organizations in the country who are working towards helping to reduce this food wastage by collecting the food and distributing it to the needy. But they are all scattered and most of the times, the poor people in India still rely on their luck to be able to find a proper meal.
Majority of food wastage in India is caused before it is packaged. This is caused due to the loopholes in the transport and infrastructure system in India. The government has looked into this and started finding investments to develop better technology to reduce this wastage.
For reducing the wastage of cooked food, the government can set up a service where they collect food from every source, and set up a shelter where the hungry people can come and feed themselves for free or at a subsidized rate. This way they do not have to hunt for the hungry people, who might be staying at a remote place and wouldn’t get an advantage of the service if not present at a particular time, or might not come out and stay undernourished for their pride.
All the efforts by the government and organizations would not succeed if there is no individual involvement. In order to participate in the movement to save food, there are certain things every individual has to do.
One is to not waste food. Serve yourself with the amount of food that is less than what you can finish. There is always a second serving available. But do not over serve and contaminate more food.
Be careful and alert about the food wastage. Always remember, every grain counts.
Compost the food that is cooked and spoilt because of improper storage. This way you would give something back to the environment.
Re-use the food that is available and experiment with different ingredients to enhance a dish and reduce the wastage.
Organize your grocery shopping well after planning a meal schedule, while avoiding impulse purchases.
Lastly, make a habit of consuming every grain of food present on your plate. That in itself will teach you lot of lessons.
I from my side have decided to contribute my bit, in whatever little manner i can do, to tackle this ugly giant of a social and health problem.
I have got my strength and motivation from my mother and therefore would like to name this project as "MAA-ANNAPURNA".(The goddess of food) after my mother who always ensured that i remained fed with dignity throughout my childhood.
I have decide to strategically locate refrigerated food storage cabinets near food plazas, marriage halls ,bus stands and the big temples in Jaipur to facilitate storage of unconsumed cooked food .I wish to call these cabinets as ANNAPURNA cabinets and i will then with some volunteers advertise these ANNAPURNA joints among st the local residents and motivate them to store there unconsumed cooked food in these refrigerators nicely packaged for an individuals consumption ,who would in all likelihood be a needy poor.This way the cooked food will not be wasted and it will be used to feed an empty stomach with all the dignity that is desired.These cabinets will be used by both the providers and the consumer of food freely at there own sweet will and my team will be responsible for the upkeep and maintenance of these storage cabinets.
I wish to start small ,but i am very motivated to see the change that i desire in my society and therefore its my prayer to all who read this to come forward and donate generously to this noble cause, and help me in paying my tributes to my beloved mother,who happens to be the motivational force behind this project" MA ANNAPURNA".
I once again urge you to join hands in this noble and social deed and contribute your bit in making my mission a reality.
Donate generously by clicking on the link below for this noble cause
https://www.ketto.org/manage/index.html#!/68248/edit
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