Dominicans have been called upon to think before they eat in an effort to help save the environment.
That call has emanated from this year’s observance of World Environment Day (WED).
On Wednesday Dominica joined the rest of the world in the observance of the day under the theme: “Think.Eat.Save”.
Dominica’s Environment Minister, Dr. Kenneth Darroux in an address to mark the day’s observance, referred to statistics from the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), which suggests that every year 1.3 billion tonnes of food is wasted.
This according to the FAO is equivalent to the same amount produced in the whole of sub-Saharan Africa.
The FAO reports that at the same time, 1 in every 7 people in the world is hungry.
Darroux said this is a staggering imbalance and this year’s theme and these statistics should encourage nationals to be more aware of the food choices that they make.
“My fellow Dominicans, we have to think. If food is wasted, it means that all the resources and inputs used in the production of the food is also lost, the water, the plants, the animals, the animal feed, the energy, the raw materials, the cost of the fuel for transporting the food, the cost of labour, the money from your pocket used to buy the food,” he said.
“We literally cannot afford this waste,” the Minister cautioned.
The Minister added that this year’s theme – Think.Eat.Save – should encourage nationals to become more aware of the environmental impact of the food choices they make and should empower them to make informed decisions.
“Climate Change has already begun to threaten our food security: we cannot and should not augment its effect by being wasteful,” he said.
“This is a call for every citizen of Dominica to become more aware of the role we each must play to ensure successful implementation of Sustainable Development for Dominica. Take action from home, and witness the power of collective decisions that we have made to reduce food waste, save money and minimize the environmental impact of food production and force food production processes to become more efficient,” the Minster stressed.
Some of the informed decisions which can be made by the public include selecting foods that have less of an environmental impact, such as organic foods.
Choosing to buy locally grown foods is also considered to be an informed decision.
This would mean that foods would not have to be flown from halfway across the world.
As we celebrate WED…let us ask ourselves, our policy makers and our authorities with the mandate to uphold the laws as it relates to the environment wat are they and we doing to ensure that our grand children and their children children will experience our lush valleys and mountains, our clear running waters, our birds, fish, etc.
Let us not do things for expediency sake – like give ppl permission to build in rivers – check Castle Comfort River; allow persons to cut down our trees, to carve our mountains to build houses with no regard for the consequences – have u seen the mountains above Loubiere lately…why would a government authority give permission to scar the mountain for a sub-division that’s just an eye sore and a potential environmental hazard?
Where is the waste water and the sewage going to go, where is the run off from rain going to go, was that given any consideration. the mountain is already sliding from the duress, a slide has already come down, the road is made straight down the gully between the two mountains, is this safe?
Hello think of the people who live in lower Loubiere, with the Hurricane season upon us is it s good things to have this kind of activity up there on the mountain?
After they kill the argricultural industry, they talking about eat what you grow. Oh please eat what you can by at spend a lot.
I agree with eating wat we grow, but a concerted effort has to be made to ensure that quality standards, environmental management systems, Good agricultural and manufacturing practices are adopted and adhered those by those involved. also the agriculture, forestry, water resource management and environmental ministries must play their part by ensuring that our environment, rivers, land use, deforestations, marine life, bio-diversity – one of the best in the Caribbean – polices and laws are enforced so that generations to come will enjoy wat we r enjoying now!