Frozen vegetables diminish food waste

Despite the era in which we live and the technological advances there are nowadays, food waste is a reality. It is one of the major problems that sparks the interest of large public and private organizations, and requires action worldwide to alleviate it.

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations -FAO- has spent many years combatting these losses. Every year a host of foodstuffs are wasted, some due to accidental causes, but others by inappropriate consumption by people.

It should be emphasized that every year lots of produce is lost or wasted, around 30% of cereals; between 40% and 50% of root vegetables, fruit and vegetables, 20% oil seeds, meat and dairy products; and 35% of fish, according to a study conducted by the FAO.

Spain is a country that continues to throw away a lot of food despite the crisis, notably 9 million tons of food a year, as pointed out by Manuel Bruscas, a social consultant very much aware of this issue. With these figures in mind we've realised that each Spaniard wastes some 300 pounds (135 kilos) of food a year.

There are many ways to put an end to this wastage, the FAO and Messe Düsseldorf are working together with several organizations to reduce these amounts, focussing on a global initiative resting on four cornerstones:

- Raising awareness of its impact and solutions for food loss and waste.

- Cooperation and coordination of initiatives worldwide for the reduction of food loss and waste.

- Development of policies, strategies and programmes for food loss and waste reduction.

- Support for investment programmes and projects implemented by the public and private sectors.

Likewise, we can all do our bit to solve this problem. Increasing our consumption of frozen products would be an ideal solution for alleviating the consequences.

Currently there are people who believe that fresh produce is better than frozen, without realizing that thanks to the quick-frozen process the nutritional properties in newly harvested food are maintained until eaten. Similarly, frozen products make people’s lives easier, due to their practicality, they are always available and in many cases, they don’t even need to be defrosted. They even have the advantage of being eaten in the desired amount, putting the rest back in the freezer, which means savings in time and money.

At Congelados de Navarra we are aware of food waste, for this reason we always recommend people eat frozen fruit and vegetables; besides being the ideal solution when faced with wastage, they enable you to have a delicious and healthy meal available at all times and in a convenient form.