In almost all households today, there is food that is leftover after each meal. Most of this food ends up in the fridge and stays there for a few days before it ultimately ends up in the dustbin. Long before we started living in cities and still in some villages there is another way to deal with the leftover food that ensures that not a single grain ends up in the garbage. If you happen to visit certain villages you will notice bowls or bins made of cement and clay placed in corners of streets and under trees. People would bring their leftover food and place it in these bins so that stray cattle and dogs could fill their bellies with the food. This would solve two issues, firstly there would be no food wastage and secondly, community animals (as they were called) would not stay hungry and would repay the generosity by guarding the area from intruders.
But as villages evolved into cities and people became “modern”, food wastage became more and more common and no one found it wrong. Every morning dustbins filled with food would be given to the garbage collector. Some of us still try to follow the old methods and place the leftover food in secluded corners for the strays or on walls and terraces for the birds to eat but a major chunk of food is still wasted. We can all collectively end this criminal wastage by practicing some very small steps and try to keep the leftover food in small containers and place them in areas where dogs, cattle, birds, squirrels etc could eat it. Also while doing so be mindful that you do not litter the area or leave any filth behind while doing this good deed.
