If the food in a supermarket is not fresh anymore or is near the “sell-by date”, it goes into trash bins too. Every day, a large amount of food is wasted.
To cut down on food waste, France passed a new law last month. If forbids(禁止) supermarkets to throw away unsold food. Instead, they must donate it to charities. For food that isn’t safe for humans to eat, it can be used as animal feed(饲料). If not, the supermarkets will face fines of up to 75,000 euros(around 542,200 yuan)or two years in prison. The law also encourages educational programs for schools and businesses about food waste.
France is the first country to make a law that forbids wasting food, but it is actually a worldwide problem. According to the United Nations, each year 1.3 billion tons of food is wasted all over the world, and just 25 percent of that food could feed all the hungry people in the world.
The good thing is that people around the world are trying different things to deal with the food waste problem. Galdakao, Spain, puts a public fridge in the center of town. Anyone can drop off food and anyone can come and take them. A supermarket in Canada, Loblaws, encourages people to buy “ugly food” by selling them at lower prices, so they won’t end up being wasted. In China, we also have the “clear your plate” campaign(光盘行动). This means you should eat everything on your plate or take away the food you haven’t eaten up.