World Food Day 2018: 5 Easy Steps To Reduce Food Wastage At Home

World Food Day 2018 will be celebrated today, with events around the world. The Day, observed worldwide on October 16, is an opportunity for people to come together to declare their commitment to eradicate hunger worldwide. The day is one of the most important ones on the calendar of the United Nations and was first celebrated by the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the UN. Events are held in 150 countries around the world and these are aimed at spreading awareness about those who suffer from hunger all over the world and to encourage action to ensure food security and nutritious diets for all. The global goal for World Food Day is 'Zero Hunger' and through World Food Day and other activities, FAO wants to achieve it by 2030. Stopping food wastage is one of the biggest action plans to eradicate world hunger, as is stressed upon on the official website of the FAO of UN.

The FAO believes that "Whether you're a business, farmer, government representative or simply someone that's willing to make a change, you can take action for #ZeroHunger!" As is commonly said, "Charity begins at home", there are small steps that all of us can take on a daily basis, which may further help us achieve the goal of 'Zero Hunger'. These steps are not only sustainable and good for you, your family, as well as the world, but are also economical and can help you save more money every month.

So on World Food Day 2018, here are 5 simple steps that you can adopt in your daily life to save food:

1. Get creative in the kitchen: Learning to cook is one of the best ways to avoid food wastage, as you can make judicious use of ingredients. All it takes is a little creativity and some willingness to work towards the common goal of eradicating hunger.

2. Re-use leftovers wherever possible: Not all leftovers can be re-used to make a new meal, but some like rice, curries, leftover breads, can be given a makeover. Food leftovers can be easily transformed into delectable dishes. You can put together an entirely new and fresh meal using some of the leftover- all you have to do is try and you'd be surprised by the kind of deliciousness you can cook with leftover food.

Also Read: How To Use Leftover Poha: 3 Creative And Delicious Ways!

3. Adopt a sustainable diet: Eating healthy doesn't have to be expensive or wasteful and doesn't need to involve elaborate meals. You can whip up nutritious meals using simple, healthy ingredients as well. If you want to know how to adopt a diet that reduces wastage, follow cooking blogs and chefs that specialise in sustainable meals.

4. Shop realistically: We tend to go overboard with grocery shopping and end up buying a lot more than we're going to be using in a given time frame. We do this to save ourselves more trips to the grocery store, but often what it results in is food wastage. Shop smart and stock up on perishables sensibly. Use your new groceries within the week, in order to avoid wastage.

5. Keep track of expiry and 'use by' dates: Reading the labels on your canned or packaged food items is essentials to avoid wastage. These are the first suspects to get thrown out, when it's time to clean your pantry and refrigerator. A little bit of mindfulness can prevent this kind of wastage.

Apart from these steps, it would help you to read up on the evil of food wastage and ever rising numbers of people suffering from hunger. It would also help you to keep a track of all food NGOs that you can donate leftover food to, after house parties or get-togethers.