Abu Dhabi
Every year, I visit India to see loved ones, and also travel to different beautiful places. Although I am fortunate to travel, I am saddened to see people on the streets, either begging for food or eating wasted food from garbage bins. This made me reflect on the amount of food that we waste without realising.
I did some research online and was shocked to find that one third of the food produced globally is wasted, and that one in every nine people in the world go to bed hungry. This information is according to the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations (UN).
From that day on, I made a conscious effort to not waste food and store food properly. I also thought about other ways in which I could bring about a change, by raising awareness among my friends at school. I approached my teacher and headmaster to ask for their approval and guidance to take this initiative further. At my school, the Abu Dhabi Indian School, teachers have always been supportive of such activities.
In the beginning, I formed a team of six pupils. We put up attractive posters in every classroom, which communicated a simple, yet effective message, on the importance of not wasting food and on the ways to avoid doing so. During the next stage of the campaign, our team expanded to 13 pupils and we presented our campaign in the school auditorium in front of about 900 students.
In order to make the campaign more interesting, our presentation was in the form of a dance, a skit and poetry recitation. In the end, all the students present were asked to raise their right arm and pledge that they would stop wasting food and that they would also spread this message.
The school encouraged me to take the campaign beyond our student body. We approached Tadweer, which is the centre of waste management in Abu Dhabi. They were quite enthusiastic about the idea as they recognise its global importance. They were kind enough to allow us to join them on World Environment Day.
My team, with the support of our headmaster, teachers and parents, conducted a three-day campaign at a popular mall in the Yas Island area of Abu Dhabi. We presented our campaign speeches in English and Arabic and performed skits and showed a documentary on food wastage. We even asked the audience questions, based on the information presented by us and everyone who answered correctly received a gift voucher.
So, what was the impact of our campaign? I have observed a reduction in food wastage among students at my school. They bring a smaller, more manageable amount of food so that they can finish eating it completely. Even if they are unable to finish a meal, they have stopped throwing it in the trash and save it to be consumed later.
Aprameya Jairam Aithal, one of the team members, said: “We think our campaign was successful because we observed less food being thrown by students in the dustbin in classrooms after carrying out regular checks during our lunch break. I think students became aware of the necessity to reduce food wastage.”
I hope my campaign becomes even more effective in changing the outlook of people on the issue of wasting food.
– The reader is a pupil based in Abu Dhabi.
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