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Essay / Potential methods to reduce food waste
Food waste is a growing global concern, which is already impacting social, economic and environmental aspects. On a social level, food waste leads to a growth in the malnourished population, particularly those suffering from food insecurity. Money and labor spent on food production was also wasted as almost a third of food was thrown away during the process of production, transportation, retailing and consumption (Turner, 2018), which causes massive economic losses and increases global food prices. Food waste also contributes to the environmental problem, the disposal of food waste releases greenhouse gases which accelerate global warming, while polluting water and air, a mass of food waste causes more monoculture and decreases biodiversity. There must be potential changes to be made to reduce food waste; Some people believe that change should be made individually, but others believe that institutions and the government should take responsibility for reducing food waste. In my opinion, food waste is not only a global concern but also a personal problem. Change could be achieved through personal behavior change and intervention by government, organizations and institutions, as consumer behaviors are always closely linked to marketing conditions and government policy. In this article, I begin by briefly explaining food waste, introducing the debate over whether change should be made at an individual level or a structural level, and then use research evidence to prove my claims, and finally propose feasible solutions to reduce food. waste.Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay Food waste is edible or inedible food that is discarded in the food supply chain or for human consumption. Although it is a global concern, the cause of food waste is not universal. Most food waste occurs in developing countries during the process of harvesting, transportation and storage, but in developed countries, food waste still occurs during consumption. According to Garrone, Melacini, and Perego (2014), there is food waste of 1.3 billion tons per year worldwide, which is a considerable problem that threatens food security and the environment. Steps must be taken to reduce food waste, but a lively debate rages over whether change should be initiated at a personal level, for example by changing shopping and cooking behaviors, or whether it is a matter of the responsibility of government or other institutions to promote the reduction of food waste. Some researchers have shown that in developed countries, consumers are the main driver of food waste, approximately 40-45% of food waste comes from households (Aschemann-Witzel, Hooge, Almil, & Oostindjer, 2018). This is a large part of food waste. It is therefore important to change consumer behavior and lifestyles to prevent food waste. Behaviors that prevent food reduction are also targeted, such as not having a shopping listbefore shopping, preparing too much food for meals, not always checking the cupboard or refrigerator, and storing food inappropriately. In the study by Graham-Rowe, C.Jessop and Parks (2013), other obstacles to reducing household food waste were analyzed. First, it is usually the housewife who cooks for the family, she tends to care more about the health of the family and providing enough food to make meals nourishing and plentiful. During interviews, most participants indicated that they would simply throw away excess food. Second, many people store a large amount of food for convenience because they don't have much time to shop or cook. Although fear of getting sick is another way to avoid inconvenience, when food expires on the expiration date, people usually choose to throw it away because they don't want to take risks with their health. Third, many households are not aware of the seriousness of food waste. This could result in them viewing the discarding of surplus food as a social norm, as surplus food is inevitable. Finally, some consumers said that it is the duty of retailers and supermarkets to change the conditions, because some food waste cannot be avoided, such as large food packaging and lack of freshness of the food they buy in supermarkets (Graham-Rowe et al., 2013). The last two barriers cannot simply be eliminated by changing consumer behavior. Some therefore believe that steps need to be taken by government and organizations to change policy and improve consumer awareness. Indeed, many projects can be implemented in different countries. For example, the UN Food Waste Definition and Measurement Program, the National Food Waste Strategy in Australia, and the Love Food Hate Waste campaign in the United Kingdom (Turner, 2018). All of this aims to promote the global reduction of food waste and raise consumer awareness of the problem of food waste. For the sake of debate, both sides are right in their suggestions, but in my opinion it is better to combine the individual level and the structural level. together to develop the campaign to reduce food waste. Because this global concern cannot be resolved unilaterally, consumer behaviors and lifestyles are linked to marketing conditions, and marketing policy also shapes consumer behaviors. Additionally, food waste from different regions has different situations to consider, for example in developing countries food waste mainly occurs before consumption, then actions should be more policy and technical oriented rather than on the individual. Therefore, the problem of food waste must be addressed through cooperation between individuals and governments or other institutions such as supermarkets, retailers and NGOs. Based on research by Graham-Rowe, C. Jessop and Parks on motivations for reducing food waste (2013), the most mentioned motivations are financial concerns and the emotion of guilt, but environmental concerns are not. taken seriously, which means that they are not taken into account. too many households realize the negative influence of food waste. There is no doubt that certain behaviors such as.