Did you know that enough food is produced to feed the estimated 805 million people around the world that are going hungry each day? Instead, 1.3 billion tons, or one third of the food produced in the world goes to waste1 each year. How can more food end up on kitchen tables to feed more families? High performance food packaging from Dow can help, as well as conscientious consumer behavior both in the supermarket and at home.

In support of this year’s World Food Day2 on October 16th, Dow is launching its Make It Last campaign to bring awareness to the reality of the global food crisis and ask consumers worldwide to make a commitment to help reduce food waste.

“Most people are unaware that food waste and food loss within the supply chain is a growing global issue,” said Jeff Wooster, global sustainability leader for Dow Packaging and Specialty Plastics. “Packaging helps reduce food waste by protecting food from being damaged, spoiled or abused and can help extend shelf-life to keep our food fresher longer.”

Want to Join the Fight Against Food Waste?

Pledge your personal commitment to Make it Last through Dow’s interactive website, where we share facts about the global food crisis and how you can help cut down on food waste. Here are some simple ways you can get started:

  • Choose pre-packaged foods for their extended shelf life
  • Buy the right-size portion of packaged foods to fit your lifestyle
  • Properly store any leftovers so that you can consume them before they go to waste
  • Check your package for the recycling icon to see if it is recyclable in your city
  • Properly recycle any eligible items after consumption

Advocate Change:

Have you already made your commitment? Encourage friends and family to do the same. Follow us @DowPackaging for food waste facts and inspiring, shareable videos. Use the hashtags #MakeItLast and #WFD14 across social media platforms, such as Facebook and Twitter, to join the conversation.

About Dow

Dow (NYSE: DOW) combines the power of science and technology to passionately innovate what is essential to human progress. The Company is driving innovations that extract value from the intersection of chemical, physical and biological sciences to help address many of the world's most challenging problems such as the need for clean water, clean energy generation and conservation, and increasing agricultural productivity. Dow's integrated, market-driven, industry-leading portfolio of specialty chemical, advanced materials, agrosciences and plastics businesses delivers a broad range of technology-based products and solutions to customers in approximately 180 countries and in high growth sectors such as packaging, electronics, water, coatings and agriculture. In 2013, Dow had annual sales of more than $57 billion and employed approximately 53,000 people worldwide. The Company's more than 6,000 products are manufactured at 201 sites in 36 countries across the globe. References to "Dow" or the "Company" mean The Dow Chemical Company and its consolidated subsidiaries unless otherwise expressly noted. More information about Dow can be found at www.dow.com.

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1 “SAVE FOOD: Global Initiative on Food Loss and Waste Reduction,” United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization
2 World Food Day is an annual consumer awareness campaign sponsored by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations