A seminar was organized on Wednesday by the Environmental Protection Department (EPD) on World Environment Day on the topic of Food Print, discussing the implications of food consumed and wasted and its environmental impacts.
It was discussed that the direct and indirect sources of food have been misused and drastically wasted. The direct sources are the food consumed directly by the people and the indirect sources refer to the sources of food production, from agriculture and food industries. Massive resources directly and indirectly related to them such as water, nutrients, crops, physical, mechanical, chemical, energy, gas, coal, oil and man power were being depleted.
Secondly, it was highlighted that the research done in the field of food print was relatively in its infancy in Pakistan and much work was not done or available. There was also no database available for per capita food consumption or per hectare area.
According to the United Nation’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), every year 1.3 billion tonnes of food is wasted. This enormous wastage of food results in devastating effects for natural resources and the environment.
The World Environment Day was celebrated thus in Lahore. This year’s theme was “Think, Eat, Save and Reduce Your Food Print”. It aimed at an anti-food wastage and loss campaign to encourage people to reduce their food print and to create more awareness about the environmental impact of food wastage and the food choices people make.