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The development of postharvest thinking and actions 1975 - 2003 |
M. C. BOURNE, Food Science & Technology, Cornell Univ., New York State Agricultural Experiment Station, 630 W. North St., Geneva, NY 14456-1371 On September 19, 1975 the United Nations General Assembly made the resolution,"The further reduction of post harvest food losses should be undertaken as a matter of priority, with a view to reaching at least a 50% reduction by 1985." This resolution drew the attention of donor organizations, and the highest levels of governments in developed and developing countries to the problem of postharvest food losses and its potential to reduce the tragedy of widespread malnutrition and hunger. A number of projects were initiated to address the problem and significant reductions in losses after harvest were obtained in many countries. That resolution was made 27 years ago; most of the decision makers and administrators from 1975 have retired and the resources assigned to post harvest activities has dwindled over the last decade. Malnutrition is still a severe problem, and better preservation and storage technologies still have the capability to reduce these losses thus making more food available at low cost to those most in need. Now is the time to revitalize our commitment to apply our knowledge of food preservation technologies to the problem of world hunger.
Session 24, State of postharvest preservation technologies in developing countries
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