Editorial | Redaksie
W
ith about a month left until
Christmas, it is the time of year
when many of us start getting
ready for the summer holidays,
the sea-side, the mountains, and days of
merry-making and fun with your families all
over South Africa. It is the time for buying
Christmas presents with the sounds of
Christmas carols blaring it out in shops and
supermarkets, decorated with tinsel and
Christmas trees of all shapes and sizes. It is
the time for planning the Christmas and New
Year’s feast with a spread, fit for a king.
In menige huis sal daar oorvloed wees met
massas voedsel, wat in die asblik sal beland.
Tonne en nogmaals tonne kos word jaarliks,
op ‘n daaglikse basis maar toenemend in
hierdie tyd vermors en beland op die ashope
van die wêreld.
Each year, according to a report by WWF in
2017 (http://www.wwf.org.za/?20481/Food-
waste-and-the-Sustainable-Development-
Goals), in the region of 10 million tonnes, or
a third of available food in South Africa, is not
eaten and yet the problem remains strangely
invisible. We don’t see great piles of food
rotting in the sun, yet the annual volume of
waste would fill Cape Town stadium six times
over.
The report also indicates that almost 12
million people in South Africa are considered
food insecure and losing a third of production
AgriKultuur |AgriCulture
impacts food availability and affordability.
These levels of food wastage also have
resource implications because of the high
energy, water and land inputs associated with
agricultural production. When food is wasted,
so too is all the embedded energy and water
required to produce it. Water and energy
costs, together with the cost of disposing of
the waste, even accounting for the pervasive
under-pricing of waste disposal, can add up to
over R1bn - a sad state of affairs.
Hierdie betreurenswaardige toestand is beslis
nie volhoubaar nie en is dit duidelik dat ons
indringend sal moet gaan kyk hoe elkeen kan
bydra om die saak te beredder want aan die
ander kant van die skaal is daar miljoene,
wêreldwyd, wat sal honger gaan hierdie
feesseisoen.
My plea to all our readers is to seriously
consider these facts in your day to day
planning regarding your consumption of
food, liquids, packaging and the like, not only
for the holiday season, but also in your daily
living.
Ons glo dat hierdie maand se uitgawe van
AgriKultuur/Culture ‘n bydrae in die verband
sal lewer.
Tot volgende keer
Chris
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