Seeing the growing poverty in various regions across the world, can certainly be very dis-heartening, but do you know what is worse than that?

It`s the despicable sight of food being wasted and thrown into the bin or down the drain!

So the question is, if there is so much of poverty, why is there so much of waste?

Today, we will explore various reasons of why does food get wasted?

1. Lack of Appropriate Planning

One of the top contributors to food wastage is because of a lack of appropriate planning on the consumer’s part.

Sometimes people buy lots of food without appropriately planning when and how the food will be prepared for consumption.

So you went to the fruit and veg store and there was a whole range of vegetables on special and you simply went crazy, but you only cook vegetables once a week! How many of those vegetables will survive to the next week? And what about beyond that? How much doesn’t end up in the bin?

At times most people are not in control, leading to the expiry of the foods, after which they are wasted.

But that’s not the only way improper planning contributes to food wastage. You see, again, due to a lack of appropriate planning, people have poorly prepared food that doesn’t taste great. It all ends up as waste.

2. Purchase and Preparation of Excess Food

Most of the time, food is wasted by purchasing, preparing, or serving more than we need. When this happens, the excess food on the plate or cooking pot goes to waste.

Alternatively, the partially used food is sometimes put at the back of the fridge and never reused. The same applies to excess purchases that pass their expiration dates and therefore look, taste, and smell terrible. At the end of it all, all the excess ends up as waste food.

3. Errors in Industrial Processing and Keeping up With Food Safety Policies

Another significant driving factor for food wastage is the protocol on food safety. The food safety protocols give no room for error in industrial processing or any other compromise that diminishes the final food product quality.

As such, the confusions and errors that occur during industrial food processing mean that all food items that don’t meet the set standards are wasted.

Food processing companies must comply with high food safety regulations and thus establish no error margins.

In complying with the food safety policies, the companies in the sector waste lots of food since any small error means the food will be rejected, even if it’s simply due to imperfection in appearance or shape.

Overcooking, production trials, packaging defects, trial runs, and wrong sizes and weights result in imperfection and the eventual rejection of the foods.

4. Over-preparation of Food in Restaurants, Hotels, and the Foodservice Industry

Most restaurants, hotels, and the food service industry alike have a tendency to over-prepare/produce food.

While the intention is good, especially in anticipation of high customer volume and the ability to not run out of the menu, over-preparation often leads to the wastage of all the unsold food.

Since the food service operations cannot quantify the amount of food consumed on average, the kitchens keep producing amounts thought to be enough but most of it is unnecessary.

Besides, some managers believe producing food in large batches minimizes costs, but in actual fact, it results in more waste than cook-to-order preparation or cooking in small batches.

5. Over-Merchandizing and Ordering in Food Stores and Supermarkets

Over-merchandizing food items and products in retail centres, wholesale markets, and supermarkets often results in food loss.

Food service operations are habitually more focused on over-merchandizing in food stores and supermarkets by using beautiful and attractive displays, thereby creating the idea of abundance in an attempt to promote sales and customer satisfaction.

The overlooked aspect of over-merchandizing is the reason for this increased food waste. When people buy more than needed, the excess will often end up in the trash bin.

Over-ordering also leads to the expiry of food stuff with a limited shelf life as some will remain unsold.