Pope Francis: “Wasting food is like stealing from poor”

According to the UN’ food agency, around 1.3 billion tonnes of food, or one third of what is produced for human consumption, gets lost or wasted every year.

Pope Francis denounced this week what he called a “culture of waste” in an increasingly consumerist world and said throwing away good food was like stealing from poor people.

“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,” Pope Francis said at his weekly audience in St. Peter’s Square.

“Throwing away food is like stealing from the table of those who are poor and hungry,” he said. Since taking office in March, Pope Francis has said he wants the 1.2-billion-strong Roman Catholic Church to defend the poor and to practice greater austerity itself.

He has also made several calls for global financial reform.

Pope Francis denounces a “culture of waste” in an increasingly consumerist world

In the industrialized world the majority of waste is by consumers, often because they buy too much and have to throw away what they do not manage to eat.

A UN-backed study released on Wednesday said simple measures such as better storage and reducing over-sized portions would sharply reduce the vast amount of food going to waste.

In US restaurants, diners wasted 9% of the meals they bought, partly because of a trend to increase the size of everything from cheeseburgers to soft drinks, said the report by the World Resources Institute and the UN Environment Programme.

Pope Francis said the “culture of waste” was especially deplorable given the prevalence of hunger in the world. The UN says hunger affects some 870 million people, while 2 billion suffer from at least one nutritional deficiency.

The Argentinean-born pontiff warned that too much focus on money and materialism meant financial market dips were viewed as tragedies while human suffering had become normal and ignored.

“In this way people are discarded as if they were garbage,” Pope Francis said.

a2Y3UQMwoLk
Diane A. Wade

Diane is a perfectionist. She enjoys searching the internet for the hottest events from around the world and writing an article about it. The details matter to her, so she makes sure the information is easy to read and understand. She likes traveling and history, especially ancient history. Being a very sociable person she has a blast having barbeque with family and friends.

Recent Posts

Quincy Jones Dead at 91

Quincy Jones, the celebrated musician and producer who worked with Michael Jackson, Frank Sinatra, Ray…

7 hours ago

White House 2024: Voter Fraud Claims Flood Social Media

Misleading allegations, rumours and outright lies about voting and fraud are flooding online spaces in…

2 days ago

Spain: At Least 158 Killed In The Country’s Worst Flooding Disaster

At least 158 people have died in Spain's worst flooding disaster in generations. On October…

4 days ago

Russia Fines Google $20,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000, Surpassing Global GDP

Google has been fined two undecillion (a two followed by 36 zeroes) roubles by a…

4 days ago

Financing Your Home Remodel: 7 Tips for Success

Embarking on a home remodel is an exciting journey, promising enhanced comfort, increased property value,…

2 weeks ago

Donald Trump Serves Up McDonald’s Fries While Kamala Harris Celebrates 60th Birthday with Church Choir

The US presidential candidates continued to campaign across key swing states on October 20. Footage…

2 weeks ago