Post Harvest Losses - establishing a world food preservation center

Reducing Post Harvest Losses – the proposed establishment of a world food preservation center

I wanted to quickly recap an interesting article that was recently published by Charles Wilson, a food preservation consultant in Washington, D.C., who proposed a World Food Preservation Center (WFPC) as a way of creating long-term solutions to the massive post-harvest food waste currently being experienced in developing countries (www.agricultureandfoodsecurity.com).

Losses occur at every step of food production – losses in planting, losses to disease or environmental conditions during the growing season, losses in harvesting, losses in food processing of any kind, losses in post-harvest storage, losses when people peel and cut their vegetables, and losses when a single grain of rice is left on a dinner plate.  Of course, each of these types of loss can be important, and each one can and should be addressed in the quest to improve food security.  It has been estimated, however, that “one-third of the food produced for human consumption is lost worldwide after harvest,” making post-harvest losses a good candidate for maximizing the benefits of limited resources.

Dr. Wilson’s idea, then, is to create a center to educate young scientists in the developing world about new and appropriate technologies for food preservation, and to help them to conduct research specifically oriented towards reducing post-harvest losses.  The goal is to produce specialists who would like to contribute to the food security of their home nations, and to give them the tools, expertise, and contacts necessary to continue in this line of research after returning to their homes.  The center would aim to be “a partner, not a competitor,” and to work with existing programs in a cooperative effort, which could be a key to its success – not being seen as outside competition, but rather as a collaborator.

It seems to me that a center such as this could be an excellent way of empowering local scientists to take up the mantle.  Too often inspired researchers lack the necessary infrastructure to have the impact that they crave – this could be a wonderful way of encouraging such research in the developing world…and maybe the developed world could take notice as well…

Establishment of a world food preservation center - Charles Wilson.– I strongly recommend reading this article to anyone who wants to find out more; it is quite short, and very well-written!