Emirates Nature-WWF has urged the UAE community to reduce the wastage of food during the holy month of Ramadan.
Launched by the World Wildlife Fund, the "Save 1/3" food waste campaign encourages the community to collectively alter its current habits and contribute to the goal of saving one-third of food wastage in the UAE. With changes as small as creating a shopping list and a meal plan to avoid impulsive buying, and freezing leftover food, the level of food wastage can decrease dramatically.
Laila Mostafa Abdullatif, Director-General of Emirates Nature-WWF, said, "We are all interconnected and depend on healthy and abundant food and natural resources for survival.
This Ramadan, Emirates Nature-WWF encourages all residents and citizens of the UAE to reflect on their eating habits and learn how to shop smarter, cook smarter, and eat smarter. Through our Save 1/3 campaign, we hope to support the UAE in addressing the global issue of one-third of the food produced going to waste."
Food production has a colossal impact on the environment and worldwide, with 1.3 billion tons being wasted annually. The approach by which communities produce and consume food is one of the biggest threats to the planet.
Production of food uses the largest portion of all land and freshwater on the Earth and is the biggest cause of deforestation and toxic greenhouse gas emissions which are amongst the many causes of climate change. In addition, food consumption is also threatening wildlife on land and causing fish stocks to collapse.
Recently launched, the Emirates Nature-WWF blog titled, ‘Yalla Green’, serves as an informative guide, offering tips on how to shop, cook and consume food more efficiently.
The blog also sheds light on the concept of funny-looking food, coined to describe the way most people tend to avoid foods that are oddly shaped or discoloured, even though they are just as nutritious as other food. This results in tonnes of perfectly good produce being discarded at farms.
Emirates Nature-WWF, in partnership with Emirates Bio Farm, has challenged Emirati food influencer Chef Khaled to transform funny looking vegetables provided by the farm into two Iftar recipes. This is being done in an effort to encourage the community to buy the funny looking foods they come across in supermarkets and farmer’s markets, which can have a significant, positive impact on the planet.