Festivals of waste

Early schooling in India is not considered complete if you've not written an essay on Festivals of India. Mine, like many thousand others before me and after me began, "India is a land of festivals...", but perhaps I should have started the essay I wrote as a 6 year old slightly differently - "India is a land of festivals of waste...".

The abundance of celebrations this season of festivals has begun, and so has the traditional abundance of food waste. I must, however, not be partisan to festivals. The issue of food waste is a chronic plague of marriages,  parties, celebrations, and at times even occasions of  commiseration, like someone's death. India's garbage dumps consume approximately 25% of the accounting difference between the farm and fork, filling our landfills with putrefying, stinking and disease causing organic waste. Much of this same waste, it is estimated,  can be brought back into the consumption cycle that could go towards feeding approximately 33% of India's  214 million food-insecure poor.  All it takes is some sensitivity, careful planning, education, awareness, sprinkled with some supporting policy, to taste.

Food is unlike any other purchase we make. Though food may have been bought by us, this act of buying is quite unlike buying any asset - which we could have acquired and chosen to use/dispose of in any manner we deem fit. When we buy  food, we merely purchase the permission from society to consume the food in a manner such that is beneficial to the consumer or others the purchaser chooses. This purchase permission also deems that if the purchased food is not consumed, then it must be returned to society in some beneficial manner.

Food waste happens in many ways, but is easy to control, if the individual knows how to. Here are some simple ways to stop waste of food:

1. Waste on the plate: This is the easiest and most important to prevent. It not only saves food, but also brings an infectious attitudinal change in the person avoiding waste on the plate. The simple ways to prevent is to take small helpings, several if needed. These frequent helpings are also a way to ensure you allow the stomach to have after-thoughts without wastage. Plate waste must be avoided at home, restaurants, parties or celebrations. The adage that best describes this is best is, "Take all you want, but eat all you take".
2. Waste in serving containers: These are the usual leftovers. Though in Indian homes most of this gets consumed because of the extremely conscious lady of the house, in restaurants and in celebrations, much of this goes into the garbage. The first way to prevent this is through self-control, by ordering small quantities (some good restaurants I frequent even serve half portions) - a little less is better than a little more. The second is an art that Indian's were good at once, but is getting forgotten in more recent times - request for leftovers to be packed. If you don't pack it, it will definitely end up adding to the garbage as it is not usable by anyone else. Even if you are with important guests you should pack the leftovers. When you vocalize your beliefs in avoiding food waste, you'll probably make a better impression than if you wasted it. 
3. Waste in the refrigerator: Packed food (home-cooked or otherwise) may go bad in the fridge, often because it does not get consumed in time. But this too is very preventable, and with a little planning, frequent fridge-rummaging, you can ensure that food goes into consumption. Also, there are so many delicious dishes that can be made from recycled food that if you were to try it a few times, it will become a quick habit. You also need to understand what to container suits which food, so that you can preserve it best. 
4. Waste in restaurants: Restaurants many times are careless, they often cannot anticipate numbers and there is also waste at the table. The way you can contribute to lessening restaurant waste, is by frequenting only those which ensure that their excess food goes into the consumption cycle. Ask your favourite restaurant how they dispose of their waste, ask the waiter how much gets wasted. You can then make your preference more vocal and also protest/suggest that the restaurant call a NGO to give away excess waste to the poor (there several such NGOs in every city). 
5. Waste for visual appeal: We often peel the apple and dump these precious vitamin C packed parts. Cucumber peels not only add taste, texture but also give the essential fiber for better digestion. There are mango varieties, which have wonderful tasting skin as well. Pea-peel soup has a flavour that is so delectable, that you may permanently decide to make soup only with its peel. So, firstly, do not cut, chop and throw for visual appeal. Secondly, know your veggies and fruits (read more about it) so that you can appropriately use the peels etc. in your what you eat. 
6. Waste due to excessive buying: When at the grocery store, only buy what is needed, don't over-buy. Often this is the main reason behind the waste. Before going to the grocer, open your fridge and know what you must buy. Choose a store where you can buy the quantity you like, and not what the shop dictates. Most of all, don't attempt retail therapy through food - it only leads to waste.  
7. Waste due to lack of preservation:Food is wasted due to wrong preservation. Sometimes potatoes left out for long develop 'eyes' or nodes, sometimes they wrinkle - but like several other veggies, there are great ways in which such food can be semi-cooked and frozen for later use. Pickling is yet another way of preserving different veggies and fruits about to go bad. Read more, understand your food so that you can preserve them safely.

This food waste is preventable by action of individuals, you, me and everyone else. 13% of all food can be saved in such manner through individual and community action. Such food if brought back into the consumption cycle will not only improve food security of many poor, but will also reduce the food burden on earth. Of the 7 billion people on earth, 1 billion do not get enough food to be able to be productive. If you do your bit, you'll not just be doing your duty, you'll be directly saving lives. 

Grow Your Food - Lets start!

I have recently started the Grow Your Food project with an aim to help reduce the growing food burden through community participation, while recycling waste in a productive manner. We all seek opportunities to contribute in an meaningful way to the city, world, environment and its people, and GYF project is a project which improves all these at one go.  Each volunteer is an important contributor and every small action of ours has the potential to change the world.

What is the Grow Your Food project?

Garden Fresh curry leaves

The GYF project endeavours to create a open-platform green revolution with community involvement and community management. The project is an attempt to encourage urban dwellers to grow a part of their own food conveniently in city-settings overcoming constraints of space and time. GYF project makes an opportunity of the vertical concrete spaces of the urban world to use them as sunshine groves by planting vertical gardens in windows and other open spaces. Grow Your Food is initially a Do-it-Yourself initiative - by each one creating their your own growing kits (with free information provided by the GYF).

How does the Grow Your Food project help?

The 'Grow Your Food' project reduces your food burden (according to the UN about a billion people do not get enough food to be active and healthy) and also helps recycle non-biodegradable and biodegradable waste. The growing-kits are made out of recycled bottles (85% of which still  goes into landfills) and they use much of your home wet-waste as compost as well. Through the GYF project you will help create more oxygen for earth and also create a fresh and green ambience at your living/working space. If you use the growing kits at home, not only will you get freshly grown vegetables but your family will appreciate and know what they eat. Apart from this, the GYF project is a great initiative to encourage family involvement in a common social activity. In children, this helps create a greater consciousness about nature, food, agriculture, social contribution and community collaboration.

Immediate aims of the GYF project:

Fresh, home grown basil

The very first aim of this project is activation and mobilization. Each home usually has the capacity to grow about 50 plants vertically (and that also means that 50 bottles will no longer go to a landfill). Add a few planters & pots to it and you could easily have about 100 vegetable plants growing right inside your home itself.  Starting with yourselves, GYF aims to have at least 100 home growers in 30 days. After that, in the next 30 days we hope that the first 100 volunteers will convert 5 additional home growers each. If we add 5 each after that every 30 days, we could have about 3,00,000 home growers in Mumbai alone by April 2013.

But that's just math. And can be only be made a reality if you put your effort behind it.

What are the immediate drives GYF project is undertaking?

1. Volunteer drive: Starting with Mumbai, the GYF project is looking for adult volunteers (or children accompanied by an adult) who can give their time and skills in activity social media, online design, creative design, agriculture, volunteer coordination, growing-kit construction, volunteer mobilization, home mobilization, work mobilization, finance management, business management, including several other specializations. GYF only believes in action participants, therefore to qualify as a volunteer it is first necessary to be a food grower - someone who grow a part of their food at their home/work.

If you interested, write to me at volunteer@comniscient.in (if possible also suggest how you would like to volunteer).

2. Plastic bottle collection drive: GYF is conducting a drive to collect plastic bottles (each bottle will support a plant or two) in clean and good condition in the 2 litre, 1 litre and 1/2 litre sizes.  To donate, please ensure you remove the label on the bottle and that you give it a nice wash before you deliver it. The bottles need to be delivered at the common area in Comniscient Group, 4th Floor, Kamal Mansion, Colaba, Mumbai - 5, anytime between 9 am to 6 pm on weekdays.

In case your family/spouse/children/friends are interested to join this initiative, please feel free invite them to this group/blog.

Now you really can make a change - join the Grow Your Food project now.