Who are we?
The team leader for group 5, he believes a leader is someone that guides everyone to the right path. With the great responsibility he will make sure that every one has an equal say in any topic, no one would be left out and none will be under pressure. His hobbies, drawing, skating and playing the guitar. He wishes to be an aerospace engineer and wishes to make the first environmentally friendly rocket/plane
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Research Report
Our interview was conducted on the topic of food wastage in school. A student of grade 9 was chosen to be interviewed. He spoke about how his grade and him tried to minimize food wastage and also suggested many solutions for the same. The interviewer tried tp find the best possible questions using many resources. Some of them were books, trusted sites and suggestions from the group. The results of what was noted down, clearly showed that the main reason of food wastage in school was accidental. There were many creative solutions given, such as extending the time given for children to eat. It was also noted down that awareness of the harms of food wastage was spreading quickly and in that past few years, food wastage had a drastic drop. Ultimately, this meant that spreading awareness about food wastage really helped decrease the amount of food wasted. By using creative visualization, we can stop food wastage completely
The Issue
At a young age we were taught not to waste food and felt ashamed to have done so. Over stuffing yourself isn’t going to help anybody. The thing we should feel ashamed about is that we are wasting so much food that we could feed a billion people who aren’t getting food at all. Eating it yourself is not the solution, but smartly consuming food. People tend to have more on their plate than they need, and this is the reason there is so much wastage.
The causes of food waste or loss are numerous and occur throughout the food system, during production, processing, retail, and consumption. Global food loss and waste amount to between one-third and one-half of all food produced. To reduce this wastage of food you can buy the food as per your requirements, you should learn how to store it properly as if you will keep all your food in a fridge, some of them will produce ethylene gas which rots vegetables.
The causes of food waste or loss are numerous and occur throughout the food system, during production, processing, retail, and consumption. Global food loss and waste amount to between one-third and one-half of all food produced. To reduce this wastage of food you can buy the food as per your requirements, you should learn how to store it properly as if you will keep all your food in a fridge, some of them will produce ethylene gas which rots vegetables.
Food wastage at home
About half of the food waste comes occurs due to food not being consumed in time, you have to be careful while shopping, you should only buy things that you know you will eat, the best way to remember this is by creating the list…and actually follow it.
You should not become a perfectionist in buying food as according to a recent study it has been proven that billions of people across the globe choose the fruit or vegetable that seems pleasing to the eyes and because of that tons of food are wasted which are all same in nutrients, vitamins and protein. Lastly buy food online, why you ask? Notice how the amount of sweets displayed increases as you proceed to checkout? They are all businessmen and want you to buy more things, so…SWEETS!!! But this can’t happen online as you know exactly what you are looking for and there is nothing that can distract you. |
How can you tell when food is rotten?
Signs of spoilage on fruits and vegetables are mold, a soft and mushy consistency and a bad smell. Low-risk foods can also spoil. For example, baked goods may develop a white or green mold. Numerous signs are indicative of food spoilage and they range from changes in the ordinary appearance of the foods, changes in its texture, bad odor and poor taste. Although some spoiled foods may be consumed without causing harm, most of them are toxic in essence and may result in serious health complications. |
Food preservation prevents the growth of microorganisms (such as yeasts), or other microorganisms (although some methods work by introducing benign bacteria or fungi to the food), as well as slowing the oxidation of fats that cause rancidity.
Food wastage in restaurants
Restaurants generate an estimated 22 to 33 billion pounds of food waste each year. Approximately 4 to 10 percent of food purchased by restaurants is wasted before reaching the consumer. Drivers of food waste at restaurants include oversized portions, and extensive menu choices and expensive menus. According to the Cornell University Food and Brand Lab, on average, diners leave 17 percent of their meals uneaten and 55 percent of edible leftovers are left at the restaurant. This is partly due to the fact that portion sizes have increased significantly over the past 30 years, often being two to eight times larger than USDA (US department of agriculture) or Federal Drug Administration (FDA) standard servings. Pre-Consumer Food Waste - This is food that’s wasted because of issues within the restaurant. Whenever food spoils, expires, is improperly cooked or spilled, it can no longer be sold and needs to be thrown away. Post-Consumer Food Waste - This is waste that primarily comes from the consumer. It includes food that’s left on plates to be thrown away by restaurants and leftovers that are never finished. Disposables - Restaurant waste isn’t all about food. Things like packaging, napkins, paper plates, and plastic utensils are also a part of the waste that both consumers and restaurants create. |
Kitchen culture and staff behavior such as over-preparation of food, improper ingredient storage and failure to use food scraps and trimmings can also contribute to food loss. All-you-can-eat buffets are particularly wasteful, since extra food cannot legally be reused or donated due to health code restrictions. The common practice of keeping buffets fully stocked during business hours (rather than allowing items to run out near closing) creates even more waste. Food waste also results in huge energy and water losses associated with producing the wasted food. The U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates that people in the U.S. waste about 27 percent of their food. Government scientists today are realizing that finding ways to reduce food waste represents a largely unrecognized opportunity to conserve energy and help control global warming. Food that ends up in a landfill creates methane. Methane is a greenhouse gas that induces climate change by heating up the atmosphere. This also means that the water and land used to grow the food goes to waste. The loss of land means space is wasted that could be used more productively, but it also means that different animals and wildlife are displaced to make room for these crops. A prime example of this is seafood. If tons of food are wasted each year from people who don’t eat it, that means tons of fish are captured for restaurants only to be thrown away. Different types of Restaurant Waste? Pre-Consumer Food Waste - This is food that’s wasted because of issues within the restaurant. Whenever food spoils, expires, is improperly cooked or spilled, it can no longer be sold and needs to be thrown away. Academic Publications on Consumer food waste |
Food wastage in the environment
Food waste is a big concern for our environment because When we waste food, we also waste all the energy and water it takes to grow, harvest, transport, and package it. And if food goes to the landfill and rots, it produces methane (a greenhouse gas even more potent than carbon dioxide). About 11% of all the greenhouse gas emissions that come from the food system could be reduced if we stop wasting food. In the US alone, the production of lost or wasted food generates the equivalent of 37 million cars’ worth of greenhouse gas emissions.
Food left to rot in landfills also impacts land biodiversity around the landfill, polluting waterways and groundwater. Food production involves a considerable use of finite resources, such as water, land, energy and capital. Food waste that ends up in landfills produces a large amount of methane – a more powerful greenhouse gas than even CO2. For the uninitiated, excess amounts of greenhouse gases such as methane, CO2 and chlorofluorocarbons absorb infrared radiation and heat up the earth’s atmosphere, causing global warming and climate change.
Food left to rot in landfills also impacts land biodiversity around the landfill, polluting waterways and groundwater. Food production involves a considerable use of finite resources, such as water, land, energy and capital. Food waste that ends up in landfills produces a large amount of methane – a more powerful greenhouse gas than even CO2. For the uninitiated, excess amounts of greenhouse gases such as methane, CO2 and chlorofluorocarbons absorb infrared radiation and heat up the earth’s atmosphere, causing global warming and climate change.
Interview with Vansh
Communication
Comparison
Both the teams(Team Amsterdam and us) were working on the same topic so we had many things in common in our research. Our data were similar and yet unique in their own way. Both our researches were related to where we lived and all the research in both the teams was cross-checked multiple times and was gathered from multiple sources to increase the reliability. A small difference was noticed in the diary chart as the group from the Netherlands- had daily food wastage in schools whereas India almost had none. Another similarity was noticed in the reflections. Both our teams had our knowledge increased and had some emotion of fear at least once.
Project reflection
There are many things we all as a team got to learn and work on so these are our reflections. At the start, all of us had a basic amount of awareness of food wastage and used it to try and give it our best, but we came to know that this so-called information was not enough so we had to research. After researching, we had a whole new understanding of food wastage around the world. There were many moments where we were slacking and I felt terrible, but in the end, we managed to pull off what we needed to.
Individual reflections
Vansh A- Working with this group was fantastic, although we did not know each other well, we made quite a good team. Everyone did their jobs perfectly and on time, we did have many arguments, but we managed to understand each others perspective on different matters and grew even closer. Although in the end everything started to fall apart, everyone started to procrastinate and our leader felt overwhelmed. The group from Netherlands hadn’t done much when we met them but after about 2 to 3 days they completed everything, whereas us could not complete a simple interview and a bit of research in a month! I was ashamed and realized that we could not complete anything this way, hence I decided to be temporary leader and take some burden off of Hryday. With the help of some close friends Hryday managed to regain control of the group and everything went smoothly and we were back on track.
Hryday- Being in this group for this international event has been a great learning experience. I learnt many things but the most valuable lesson of mine through this journey was nothing looks good unless you put a lot of effort into it. I also learnt how hard the job of being the leader was. Until now I used to think that leaders were just people who barked out orders at you as the leaders I ever had always did that but I learnt that leaders had lots of tasks to complete themselves. If their peers could not finish some kind of work the leader was the one to do it. A leader had to be calm at all times. These wrong thoughts on how to be a leader kept my group slacking in the start and lead to many arguments as well. The day I understood my mistake was the day that work was properly done. After understanding my faults I apologized to everyone in my group and vowed to myself to make things right. We started from scratch and our work began improving. Soon everything started going well. After I entirely understood my responsibilities. I encouraged my team by appraising them or trying to encourage them ton work to their full potential. All this and support from my teammates helped massively and I would have never have able to do this without their help. When our group was finally united we started communicating with the other students from Netherlands. When we were collecting information from them for our communication we had slight problems as they were not ready. It took them a while which caused us to fall behind. In the end we had some technical issues with Weebly. In the end with teamwork and determination we took care of all the issues that had occured.
Pranav- This event was a great opportunity for me. It was amazing to work with this group, we gave our best in everything. I learned a lot about food wastage which made me realize to not waste food at all. We did interviews with restaurant manager's, students in our school and took interview's from our families too. Well there were clashes sometimes between us as if even of the people didn't submit their work on time, the whole team got scolded. But everyone did their work properly to avoid any delays. It was very fun interacting with the students of Netherlands.
Hridimoy- I learnt a lot while I was in this group. Teamwork was one of the most important skills I started to develop. Most of the things went good for me. My research was sufficient. I gave the needful photos and did my job overall as a photographer and videographer. There were many things I did differently from my group. I collaborated where I needed to but liked to do my work alone most of the times.