About half the municipal solid waste making its way to landfills consists of organic materials, largely food.

Consider the sheer quantity of foodstuff we shop each week. How much of this do we actually consume? And how much do we throw away?
The bulk of purchases any household makes on a sustained basis comprises of food. It is also what many of us waste the most, as indicated by the fact that about half the municipal solid waste making its way to landfills consists of organic materials, largely food.
This is tragic in a world in which 840 million people remain undernourished and six million children under the age of five die of hunger and malnutrition each year. There couldn't be stronger ethical, humanitarian reasons for curbing food wastage.
There are compelling environmental reasons as well from its production to disposal; think about the land, energy, chemical fertilizers, water, pesticides and more, used to grow crops. Then think about its storage, transportation, processing, and packaging, refrigeration and further transportation. Each step requires energy, money and infrastructure.
According to an estimate, an average of about 10 units of non-renewable fossil fuel energy are needed to put one unit of food energy on the table.
And water! Globally, some 70 percent of all water that is pumped from underground or diverted from rivers is used to produce food. So, food wastage implies water and energy wastage as well. Besides, in many countries, agriculture is the biggest source of water pollution.
Next, voluminous amounts of dumped food have to be cleared regularly leading to further energy consumption and contamination of air, land and water.
The situation is compounded when livestock products are wasted. As incomes rise, people consume more grain, but indirectly in the form of meat, eggs, milk, cheese and other products of grain-eating, domesticated animals and birds.
Globally, meat production has increased 60 percent over the past four decades and indications are that in the next five decades, the greatest impact on the environment from farming will likely come from increased meat consumption.
It takes between three and 10 kg of grain to produce one kg of meat. Soil erosion and fertility loss, water depletion and pollution with pesticides and nitrates from fertilizers, oxygen depletion in coastal and inland waters from agricultural runoff - these are some consequences of industrial agriculture in practice today.

Huge Loss
Annually, some 30 percent of agricultural products and foodstuff in Iran end up as trash, while in advanced countries the figure is roughly over 5 percent.
More specifically, between 10-12 million tons of farming products go waste during cultivation, harvesting and processing and consumption processes, enough to feed 20 million people.
Studies show that out of the wasted amount, almost 12-15 percent is lost during processing, 5-6 percents during harvest and 5-6 percent due to excessive consumption.
Most experts and officials dispute Central Bank of Iran's claims that the value of wasted food in Iran amounts to $5 billion, saying no exact assessment to this effect is possible.
What is certain is that the government every year has to spend million of dollars on import of livestock food, edible proteins, amino acids, chemicals and essences.
Absence of recycling mechanisms has further deteriorated the situation.

Beyond Standards
Despite constituting only less than one percent of the world's population, Iran consumes almost 2.5 percent of world wheat, which is far beyond the standard level.
Officials say 30 percent of wheat, produced domestically and imported, end up in trashcans.
In a bid to help the agro sector improve its share in generation of value-added and to curb state expenses, the government has been urged to work out a plan in collaboration with related organizations and experts to contain the excessive wastage of farm products.
Lower imports would obviously produce positive economic consequences such as creation of many jobs in the agro sector.
Establishment of adequate infrastructures in farms, construction of industrial complexes adjacent to production units, promotion of processing and supplementary industries, installing mechanized machinery in factories and propagating consumption optimization models are among strategies to reduce wastage of agro products and reduce reliance on imports.
The government, within laws of the fourth five-year economic development plan (2005-2010), will try to halve the agro wastage level from the current 30 percent to 15 percent.

Little Progress
The fact that the government has had to purchase one million ton of barely and 95 percent of the required edible oils from overseas since March as well as increase import of corn by one million ton this year point to the stagnant state of agricultural production units.
Head of Tarbiat Moddares (Teachers Training) University's Faculty of Economy disputes claims made by some officials that agricultural production has increased by 22 million tons in the recent years, showing a 35 percent increase.
Dadeq Khalilian says on the contrary, no significant improvement has been witnessed in agro indices.
"Had it been true, economic impacts of such progress would have been felt in different ways such as lower prices, enhanced purchasing power and increase in state forex earnings through exports.
"Reliable figures indicate that under best conditions, agro products have increased by near 14-15 million tons over the past seven years."
"The fact that the government has overcome reliance on wheat imports is used as a pretext to instill the idea that the agro sector has made significant progress in recent years and is now in good shape."

Changing Attitudes
Food waste is a vital issue that, unfortunately, does not get enough media coverage in Iran, even though it should be highlighted because it directly relates to the attitudes of all families.
The hectic pace of development in the last 20 years has so commercialized our society that people have forgotten the proper, ethical way of conserving food.
People are living comfortably here. Food is readily available. It is reasonably priced. But that doesn't mean we waste it. We should buy only the required quantities that suffice our needs. Not in such excess that we need to throw it in the waste bin. So, from every point of view - humanitarian, moral, religious and environmental - we should refrain from wasting food.
Consumers load their trolleys with commodities that they hardly require; and end up wasting them. Food is wasted in bulk; and children as well as adults are ignorant about its value.
If we really want to do away with this sinful wastage, the value of food should be instilled in the minds of the young and old.

Stacks of fresh green leaves are rotting due to molding before and after plucking, causing huge losses to farmers, and the entire economy.

The prolonged stalemate surrounding the tea industry is unrecorded in recent history. As is the case with most economic sectors, enforcement of ineffective laws, a result of the chronic gridlock among responsible officials, has pushed the industry into complete disorder and chaos.
Experts say frequent and unhelpful intervention by various state bodies in the affairs of the Tea Organization and lack of government support have not only failed to help improve the situation, but also contributed to its deterioration.
Many blame improper policies of the former ministry of agriculture-- now called the Ministry of Agriculture Jihad following a merger with the construction jihad ministry-- for the current unfavorable condition.

Discouraged
In a rare instance and despite this year's sufficient precipitation in the lush northern regions, the majority of tea growers have abandoned their farms crammed with green tea leaves.
Most tea factories are either closed down or bankrupt, and so unable to purchase the crop.
Stacks of fresh green leaves are rotting due to molding before and after plucking, causing huge losses to farmers, and the entire economy.
The leaves piled up in factories are doomed to the same fate.
Instead, imported tea is widely welcomed by Iranians for whom the hot beverage is part of their staple diet.
Unbridled imports coupled with wide-scale smuggling forced the government to back down from an apparent pledge to open up the country's thirst for tea to more imports following fierce protests from domestic producers.
According to official figures, Iran produces 58,000 tons of tea a year, against a national annual consumption estimated at 100,000 tons. The smuggling of mainly Sri Lankan tea costs the government in lost duties.
For major tea exporters such as India and Sri Lanka, Iran is a strong orthodox market that must be tapped. And, that's what they are doing.

Fake Figures
Farmers who own more than one hectare of land quit after the first plucking.
Less privileged ones whose farm area is less than one hectare, bid for second and even third plucking and themselves do all the work because they cannot afford to hire workers.
Often, the leaves are left on farms for long hours after plucking in the absence of factory representatives. Once they arrive, farmers are compelled to sell the product of their labor at very low prices to prevent them from rotting. Merciless middlemen usually set the prices.
The government says the green leaf is presently sold between 500-700 rials per kilo, though in some places it is retailed for a record low of 200 rials or under.
According to the Tea Organization, its price ranged between 1,300-3,640 rials last year (March 2003-04), figures disputed by most farmers who say they were not able to sell the product for more than 1,300 rials per kilo.
What farmers and officials agree upon is that the price is currently one-fifth of what it used to be, say five years ago mainly because of a stagnant market, discouraging factories from making purchases.
And, so the controversy over the exact purchasing price of green tea leaf lingers. The Tea Organization says 107,000 tons of leaves has been acquired from farms since March, showing a negative growth compared to last year when farmers sold 182,000 tons of the crop either to factory or government representatives.

Unfulfilled
As per a government ratification passed in April, tea growers were to receive a certain amount of cash within a period of five years to compensate for their damages. The figure for the current year was estimated at 7,000,000 rials per hectare. Farmers were to receive another 8,000,000 rials both in financial grants or loans at low rates to boost product quality.
In another seemingly sympathetic move, government says it will try to win the satisfaction of both farmers and factories by buying the product at a rational price for benefit of the interested parties. Hopes remain low for farmers and manufacturing units weary of government's unfulfilled promises.
Parliament, in the meantime, has banned farmers from growing other crops, dashing all hopes of ending their woes.
Experts say if government does not move fast to revive the industry, the tea sector would definitely end up in the red.

Who to Blame?
The tea dilemma has now turned into a major headache for a country diagnosed with multiple economic ailments.
What is certain is that most government initiatives have so far failed to resolve the matter. In fact, irrational and irresponsible decisions have at times made things even worse.
Tea manufacturing companies complain that government is trying to escape blame for its inability to improve the situation by pointing the finger of accusation at them and making them a scapegoat for its failures.
Out of 175 tea factories, only 50 are currently operating. The rest have either filed for bankruptcy or remain idle, causing tons of leaf to pile up and eventually rot in storages, submerging manufacturing units and farmers subsequently into a state of impoverishment.
This year, out of 20,000 tons of dry tea produced, only 2,000-3,000 tons were purchased by factories. Some, dispute the figure, saying production stands at a much lower level.

Missing Loop
Experts say improving the quality of the crop is one effective way to convince Iranian consumers to turn away from foreign tea.
This necessitates employment of advanced processing and supplementary mechanisms by tea factories and full cooperation of related bodies, most importantly the ministries of industries and health. Parliament is also expected to remove all legal barriers for establishing hi-tech units.
Since profitability is the prime factor for traders, it is natural that they would prefer to import the tea through cheaper channels. Otherwise they would take their money elsewhere. And, so the government should impose reasonable tariffs and limit the import of tea, while shut all doors to smugglers.
Iran today is faced with an unbridled import of tea, while tea smuggling has become an old story.