Drastic times call for drastic measures

Hunger. Weakness. Desperation. These are the words that 795 million undernourished people around the world relate to. You would think that proper food is a basic human right, but according to the World Food Programme (WFP), one in nine people do not get enough food to lead a healthy life. In theory, world hunger is an easier issue to solve compared to issues like AIDS or climate change. But that is theoretically, of course.

In reality, there are many aspects, political and social, that come into play and prevents this from being solved. For example, generally at home, if a food product crosses its ‘best before’ date, we just throw it away. I, myself am guilty of this because I just assume that the food has gone bad. But that ‘trash’ I toss out could be someone else’s meal, right? Just imagine how much food we waste each month. According to official estimates, the average French person throws out 20kg to 30kg of food a year – 7kg of which is still in its wrapping. Now, take these average individual statistics and make it worldwide. I’m pretty sure we all would agree that we have a major issue at hand.

To decrease food wastage, France has become the first country to ban supermarkets from discarding or destroying unsold food. Instead they have to donate that food to charities and food banks. Food that is unsafe to eat should be given to farms for agricultural purposes. If caught, the supermarkets should have to pay a hefty fine of up to 3,750 euros (Dh15,580). The law is only applicable to supermarkets of 400 square meters or more.

Arash Derambarsh, the activist who managed to get this law passed, wants to present his campaign to the UN and call for an international law. I personally think that governments worldwide should do whatever they can to help solve this issue, even if it’s a small contribution. Of the 7.1 million tonnes of food wasted in France each year, 67 per cent is discarded by consumers, 15 per cent by restaurants, 11 per cent by shops and 5 per cent by supermarkets. But we have got to start somewhere. According to The Guardian, French food banks received 100,000 tonnes of donated goods, 35,000 tonnes of which came from supermarkets. Even a 15 per cent increase in food coming from supermarkets would mean 10 million more meals being handed out each year.

If the small target of supermarkets could have that much impact, imagine how many more meals we could get from the larger targets. If the law is successful and yields great results, other governments would be encouraged to follow suit. No one wants people to die of hunger. And you know what they say; drastic times call for drastic measures. And these are drastic times indeed.

The writer is a media student with the Sharjah Higher College of Technology.

The International Government Communication Forum (IGCF), held in Sharjah, is an annual forum that shares global best practices in fields of government communication and aims to build a platform for better communication between governments and their citizens. This column is a collaborative effort with Gulf News featuring work by UAE-based students as part of that initiative.