Credit: Fast Coexist
Sorry to be talking about food waste again, but it IS a big
issue, an ironic one at that too, with approximately 791
million people in developing countries going hungry while those in
developed countries dump hundreds of thousands of tonnes of food waste into the
landfill on a daily basis. The good news, however, is that individuals and
organisations worldwide are increasingly devising ways to tackle the problem, not
least by turning food that is intended for the landfill into something useful.
A Swedish startup, for instance, is drying fruits that are
about to go bad into a nutritional powder called FoPo, which can be mixed
with water or sprinkled on yoghurt or ice cream. According to Kent Ngo, one of
the founders of FoPo, the shelf life of fruits can be extended from two weeks
up to two years simply by drying them. Incidentally, the drying process can
retain between 30% and 80% of the original nutritional value, and the fact that
the fruits are now in powder form means easier logistics – they can be shipped
to people living in hunger in parts of the world. Also, refrigeration, which
could be an issue due to lack of electricity supply in developing countries, is
not necessary for the fruits, now in powder form.
The founding students from Lund University in Sweden will be
piloting FoPo this summer in the Philippines, where an enormous amount of food
grown is wasted because of poor storage and transport. Who knows, food in
powder form could be the food of the future if we’re to live sustainably.
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