Dubai: When it comes to any good habit, the best practice is to start with it early in life. And so it is with having the right attitude to food conservation. When parents lead by example and make it a conscious decision to not waste food, they are efficiently tutoring their children to follow in their footsteps.

We asked students to rate themselves and their families on a waste meter and share their attitude towards food wastage.

Luca Angelo Parkinson
British, 16

I think we’re very good at limiting our food waste and barely any organic waste goes in the bin. Any leftover vegetables or fruit from cooking and after meals, we give to our rabbit and tortoise to eat, and give any meat produce to our cats and dogs. When we overcook, and have food left over from a meal, we keep it in tubs in the fridge to take to work or school the next day… no food is wasted. My parents have really instilled in us the meaning of waste and protecting the planet as best we can, and we are all pretty careful, especially when it comes to food.


Julia Sheri Tolentino
Filipino, 14

As a teenager, when I think about the topic “food wastage” it makes me think, “Am I putting thought to my food when most of the population can’t afford [to eat one square meal a day]?” Personally, if I have to rate myself and my family between 1 to 10, in the waste-o-meter, that would be nine since, if there is leftover, we keep it in the fridge, eat the leftover before it expires, or give it to friends, as we are inspired by the quote ‘sharing is caring’. We should not trash food when many people are starving [in the world].”


Elmustafa Arif
Sudanese, 15

“Food waste is strictly prohibited by Islam and thus prohibited in my family. Even though it is prohibited, it is hard to make sure that you save/eat up everything you make. My family scores an eight [on the waste meter]. This is merely due to the fact that we are able to donate our extra food to the ones in need. Also, my mother makes sure we are not wasting food. Leftovers are usually kept until they are no longer edible. That is the only source of food waste in our family.”


Anab Umayma
Bangladeshi, 14

The definition of waste is to use [things] carelessly, or for no purpose at all. I would definitely rate my family as an eight, because we believe that wasting affects your own life and the environment around you. However, we do not get to achieve a full 10 because, to be honest, everyone does a little wasting in their daily life. How many times a day do people stop and think about global warming and pollution? Not a lot, right? To be honest, even I don’t think about it all that much, but any time I’m about to use something unnecessary, I make it a point to think about our environment and how this might affect its future.”


Salihah Shehzad Tejani
Kenyan, 14

“We as a household do not waste a lot of food. We would stand on the number eight on the meter. I say this because we come from a country where most people cannot afford even one meal a day. As most of us living in Dubai do not see this every day, we need to make a change and waste less food. I have read that roughly one-third of the food produced in the world for human consumption every year gets lost or wasted. Every one of us should do our bit to reduce this huge wastage.”


Peeyush Jain
Indian, 19

“My parents always taught me to finish all the food on my plate. This saying plays in my head whenever I look at a plate of food. Even now, we all stay true to this rule. This helped place my family rather high on the waste meter, say at eight or nine. In case we have extra food left, we store it in the freezer or give it to the housekeeper. Food rarely goes into the bin – the only exception are expired products. This is why we try not to stock up too much on food from the supermarket.”