Don’t waste food as millions die of it

Don't waste food when millions of people are still hungry

This is the message of the national meeting held in Hue city, Thua Thien-Hue province on June 5 to mark the World Environment Day.

According to the United Nations, global-scale food wastefulness is estimated at 1.3 billion tons per year while around one billion people live in hunger. More seriously, over 20,000 children under five die every day because of hunger.

The lavishment of food means the lavishment of natural resources, leading to the degradation of the environment as solid waste and industrial waste water keep increasing while forest coverage and bio-diversity continue shrinking.

In Viet Nam, the challenge of environmental pollution is huge because over 60% waste in rural areas 16% waste in urban areas are not treated. The burning of million tons of cereal straw produce an enormous amount of CO2 and dust.

Addressing the meeting, Deputy PM Nguyen Thien Nhan called on every people, family and organization to think twice before using food.

He asked for greater efforts to prevent the degradation of the environment for ourselves and for the next generations after naming several good practices in environmental protection across the country.

In a bid to protect the environment, the Ministry of Education and Training plans to launch a campaign to mobilize each 12^th-grade pupil to plant at least one tree before graduation.

If the campaign is successfully carried out, Viet Nam will have around one million trees a year./.

By Huong Giang