Conscious Consumers can help curb food waste in PH
Food activists, chefs, and organic farmers are calling on Filipino consumers to reduce the country’s food waste by being conscious of the quality and quantity of food they eat.
Pacita U. Juan, Slow Food Councilor of Southeast Asia, said that consumers have the power to demand “good, clean, and fair” food from producers.
She explains that the country’s food system is broken because there is a gap between farmers and consumers.
“Consumers do not know what they want to demand from the farmers. And, at the same time, farmers do not know what to plant, simply because they are not communicating with each other,” Juan said.
Terra Verde Ecofarm president Ericson B. Atanacio echoed Juan’s remarks and added that farmers could provide better produce if only consumers would demand it.
Atanacio said that there are numerous causes of food waste in developing countries such as the Philippines. These may include lack of capital, lack of farm technology, and lack of proper training in packaging and reducing postharvest losses.
Meanwhile, Melody Melo-Rijk, project manager of WWF Philippines’ Sustainable Consumption and Production, said that Filipino consumers need to be informed about the extent of the food waste problem.
“Education is the key for them to be more aware that sustainability should be done now and in that way they can vote through their choices of their food,” said Melo-Rijk.
via Business Mirror
