A MISSION WITH A VISION: EATING SUSTAINABLY
The ‘Sustainability’ pillar of the ‘Eat Right India’ movement initiated by Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) strongly advocates giving importance to local and seasonal food; reducing food wastage and reduction of F&B packaging waste by promoting environmental friendly substitutes. This along with enabling F&B sector to develop efficient plastic collection and disposal systems.
India produces enough food to feed its entire population. Yet, it is estimated that thousands of people go to bed hungry on a daily basis as tons and tons of food is wasted every day. It is either dumped, thrown away or gets wasted during transportation, harvest time or due to inefficient supply chain management.
“Save Food, Share Food,” is an initiative by the FSSAI. This initiative aims to bridge the gap between the food business operators, surplus food distribution organisation and the needy. Simultaneously, the initiative also lays focus on reducing and curbing food waste. The initiative includes a network of Surplus Food Distribution Organisations known as ‘Indian Food Sharing Alliance’ (IFSA). This network is being trained on ensuring safe collection and distribution of surplus food. This is an exemplary movement that brings the concept of ‘No Food Wastage’ into public awareness.
To standardise and regulate the process of food collection and distribution by food banks, FSSAI has taken many steps under Food Safety and Standards (Recovery and distribution of surplus food) Regulations, 2019. It makes it mandatory to have surplus food distribution agencies to be registered on FLRS portal. Also, it includes training of these agencies under Food Safety Training and Certification (FoSTaC) wherein they’re being trained on good hygiene practices to be followed while collecting, storing and distributing surplus food.
Further orchestrating this cause there are campaigns like ‘Street Food Vendor has a heart’ which assures that each street food vendor donates every 10th meal for free to a needy person. In the second campaign – ‘I Too Have a Heart’, food businesses including restaurants donate food, as and when surplus stock is available with them. The third campaign called ‘A small gesture, A BIG DIFFERENCE’ relates to surplus food available at celebratory functions like weddings and parties etc.
On an individual level, one must do some basic things to minimise food waste by:
Smart shopping, by making a grocery list to avoid impulsive buying.
Plan meals in advance, store food in proper storage areas. Excess peeling of fruits and vegetables to cut back on food waste.
Store excess food at optimum temperature and reuse leftovers. Preserve food by canning, pickling or drying. Monitor food waste items you throw.
Eat according to your body needs and hunger. Clean your plate, ask your family members to avoid wasting food, don’t over serve.
When organising a party, make sure that you distribute the excess food rather than throwing it away. Community kitchen, where a group of regularly meeting people plan, cook and share healthy, affordable meals, is a unique way of saving food from getting wasted. Ensure safe distribution of food by storing it in clean and tightly closed containers, separate for vegetarian and nonvegetarian meals. Use gloves and clean packets while distributing food. Remember to think before
nnnnnnnnnnnyour buy, eat what you require and save food for the poor. Also as a smart consumer you should know what you eat. The food we eat, the ways we produce it, and the amounts wasted or lost have major impact on human health and environmental sustainability. A diet that includes more plant-based foods is healthy, sustainable, and good for both people and planet. It is not a question of all or nothing, but rather small changes for a large and positive impact.
READ BEFORE YOU BUY
Be an informed buyer by reading labels printed on packed foods.
FSSAI makes it mandatory to label food items to provide firsthand information about nutritional value per 100 gm or 100 ml or per portion size including the energy, quantity of proteins, carbohydrates and fats, ingredients, net quantity or net weight, month and year of manufacture, best before date. It also mentions muscle and exercise is what strengthens it Control your diabetes Quit smoking
Limit alcohol intake Lose weight
Eat heart-healthy foods Don't overeat. Small and frequent meals are better Don't stress too much how to handle, cook and the best before date a particular product. Other details mentioned on the label such as health benefits and presence of dietary supplements makes a tangible difference in consumer health by helping them make sound dietary purchases. FSSAI also plans to introduce colour coded labels for packaged food products with high fat, sugar and salt contents. Presently, a small green colour sign at the corner of food packet indicates vegetarian contents and brown colour sign specifies non-vegetarian products.
Labels empower buyers to adopt better health practices. The shelf-life of products helps reduces food waste which is also printed on the label. FSSAI specifies guidelines for creating food labels in clear and readable format that can be understood and trusted by the consumer.
With a vision to educate the consumers, a Food Smart Consumer Portal has been developed to provide consumers with credible information about food safety, hygiene and nutrition, food myth busters, smart buying guides, consumer rights, guidance notes of consumer interest and an access to popular publications of FSSAI. Consumers can also raise food related grievance through this platform which has a nodal officer especially trained to redress consumer grievances. A series of ‘Consumer Guidance’ notes about various food safety aspects have been initiated.
The whole concept behind labelling is to enable people of the country to know about the composition of food products so as to make informed choices.
FSSAI also believes in promoting local and sesonal food. Eating local means celebrating the fact that healthy and nutritious food comes from your neighbourhood. Switching towards local and seasonal food doesn’t only showcase our local heritage and traditions but also lead to the growth of a strong local economy. It also means that when we eat what the nature produces, it ensures that the local and seasonal produce is optimised to the maximum i.e., tastes better, costs less and support the growth of our farmers.
Sustainable living is not just about food but also considering about our planet and environment.
FSSAI has also started a consumer awareness campaign – ‘Eat Right India for Sustainable Living’ as a call to action for plastic waste management and reduction of plastic footprint in the F&B Industry.
Aligned with the Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s call for action to eliminate singleuse plastic in coming years, FSSAI is developing a concrete action plan in partnership with all stakeholders for reduction of F&B packaging waste by promoting environmental friendly substitutes along with enabling F&B sector to develop efficient plastic collection and disposal systems in the food and beverages sector.
To kick-start the movement, the Indian cricket captain, Virat Kohli has joined hands with FSSAI as the torchbearer to millions of his fans under this campaign. He has reached out to millions of fans through his social media accounts (Twitter, Instagram and Facebook) to support him in this awareness drive. On 12th September 2019, Virat Kohli invited people to a collection drive by asking them to bring empty F&B plastic packaging, plastic bottles, aluminium cans and tetra pak cartons for recycling in a move towards sustainable living.
This campaign comes a day after, the Prime Minister, Narendra Modi launched ‘Swachhata Hi Seva (SHS) 2019’, which has a special focus on ‘plastic waste awareness and management’. The two campaigns are in complete alignment with each other and will help accelerate the vision of the
Prime Minister to free our houses, offices and workplaces from single use plastic.
To further encourage large scale participation of stakeholders in this cause, FSSAI is working with the F&B Industry to come forward and commit to working towards achieving a plastic waste free sector during this event with a voluntary pledge.
In a nut shell, we expect to see more action especially on the sustainability front so that a systematic approach can be taken towards plastic waste free India.
FSSAI is geared to do so and appeals to citizens to adopt practices to reduce food wastage, eat wise for a healthy life and the planet.