Pope On Wasting Food: It’s Like Stealing From The Poor

Pope Francis does not like to see people wasting food.

Pope Francis addressed his weekly audience in St. Peter’s Square today and said that we are currently living in a “culture of waste.” The Pope said that people have gotten used to wasting food and that they don’t think twice when discarding leftovers.

The Pope said: “Our grandparents used to make a point of not throwing away leftover food. Consumerism has made us accustomed to wasting food daily and we are unable to see its real value… Throwing away food is like stealing from the table of those who are poor and hungry.”

Reuters reports that nearly one third of the food produced for consumer consumption (about 1.3 billion tons) is thrown out every year. The United Nations’ food agency said that people buy more than they need and then toss what they don’t use.

The World Resources Institute and the U.N. Environment Program said another problem is that restaurants keep increasing portion sizes. The organization found that diners in the United States wasted about nine percent of meals purchased at restaurants.

Pope Francis said: “This culture of waste has made us insensitive even to the waste and disposal of food, which is even more despicable when all over the world, unfortunately, many individuals and families are suffering from hunger and malnutrition.”

According to NBC, more than 870 million people are affected by hunger while 2 billion suffer from a nutritional deficiency.