943 tonnes of rice being wasted in Bengaluru every year, says CM Siddaramaiah

On the occasion of World Food Day, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah expressed concern that 943 tonnes of rice were being wasted annually in Bengaluru city alone.

Speaking at the World Food Day programme organised by the Food and Civil Supplies Department, the Chief Minister referred to the study by the University of Agricultural Sciences-Bengaluru, which had estimated food waste in Bengaluru to be valued at ₹360 crore annually.

“I know the suffering of hunger and the value of rice — that is why the Annabhagya scheme was implemented,” he said.

Recalling how poet Da Ra Bendre offered his respects to farmers by describing them as Anna Brahmas, he said wasting food was an insult to the gods. Terming conscious food wastage as an act of arrogance towards food, he recalled that Mahatma Gandhi had called food wastage a sin.

“We were once dependent on America for rice, and now we have progressed to the point of exporting it to other countries. However, it is unfortunate that food wastage is also increasing,” he remarked.