AMMAN — Minister of Agriculture
Khaled Al-Hneifat
recently said that 34 percent of food in Jordan is wasted.
اضافة اعلان
If citizens are to
deal with the predicted global food crisis, whose features are beginning to
appear in many countries, consumer culture needs to change, say specialists in
the field, stressing the need to exert collective efforts to raise awareness,
at official and populace level, about the importance of rationing food.
Director-General
of the
Jordan Farmers Union Mahmoud Al-Oran underlined the fact that the
problem of food waste lies “with citizens’ consumption policy”.
He even has a
classification of consumers of vegetables and fruits: those who purchase fresh
produce in greater quantities than they need, “which is the category that
wastes food in large proportion”, those who “buy in quantities that are
commensurate with their needs”, and those who buy the lowest-priced produce,
“due to their limited income”, which is usually of lower quality.
34%
of food in Jordan is wasted
Oran believes that
changing consumer behavior — when it comes to fruits and vegetables — and
“purchasing in moderation would contribute to reducing the amount of food
waste”.
Member of the
Board of Directors of Jordanian
Poultry Producers Association Hassan Bu Diqer
told
Jordan News that as far as he knows, there is no waste in poultry
consumption.
“Consumers
purchase as much as they need, so the poultry sector may witness the least
waste,” he said, attributing this to the storage options, which force “citizens
to consume poultry within a short period of time, and therefore there is no
waste”.
Poultry breeder
Saad Al-Ramahi told
Jordan News that he collects leftover food and feeds
it to his poultry; “this way, I do not waste any excess amount of food”.
Hanin Al-Jarhi,
director of public relations at a waste management company, said that her
company started an initiative in Aqaba governorate three years ago, “collecting
food from hotels and restaurants during Ramadan buffets” and distributing it
“to approximately 200 needy families each Ramadan”.
Um Hamad,
housewife and breadwinner for six individuals, told
Jordan News that she
is “keen to cultivate a culture of appreciation” in her family.
“I collect, wrap
and serve excess food to needy people, to teach my children not to dump surplus
foods in the waste,” she said.
According to
Mohammed Al-Jeitan, former vice president of the Jordan Chamber of Commerce,
the COVID-19 pandemic has changed “the phenomenon of food waste”, stressing
that it contributed to modifying the consumer behavior” in this regard.
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