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How Kenyans wasted one third of Christmas food


As Kenyans enter the dreaded month of January – or Njaanuary in local parlance – the startling wastefulness that many resorted to during the festive season has been revealed.

According to the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), close to one third of all the food Kenyans prepared for Christmas and New Year festivities may have gone to waste.

What’s more disturbing is that FAO estimates the food was either spoiled or wasted before it was consumed.

The problem of food wastage worsens during festivities and FAO has now began a New Year resolution campaign to end it.

WASTED FOOD

“The holidays are a great time to celebrate food and to appreciate it. Yet, holidays have, in some parts of the world, become synonymous with over-eating and food waste,” says FAO.

Food is usually lost or wasted throughout the supply chain, from the farm down to cooked food that is never eaten and thrown away.

“And food isn’t the only thing that is wasted when it goes uneaten: all of the resources, like seeds, water, feed, money and labour that go into making it are also lost,” said FAO, which is asking people across the world to donate what they did not consume over Christmas and New Year.

“If you buy extra cans, dried goods or other non-perishable food that can be donated, there are many local charities that happily accept these foods,” the organisation says.