In a recently released Hollywood movie, one of the protagonists wails in dismay on finding shes been stripped off her fortunes because she could have "no high-protein diet" because "poor people only eat carbs".
Unfortunately, the wealth-induced fastidious attitude is a stark reflection of the dreariness surrounding the poor, whose diet patterns usually take the hit of high food prices, and of the luxury afforded only to the well-off of changing diet patterns to accommodate their varying health perceptions.
The Oxfam brought this sad reality to the front through its survey that showed that the diet of the poor, particularly in developing countries, has been considerably affected by the recent rise in food prices.
Thirty-nine percent of the people surveyed admitted that high food price - which is also a top concern for 66 percent of the respondents - influenced changes in the quality and quantity of food consumed. Ironically, 49 percent in the US changed their diets because of health reasons.
"The price of food keeps going up. I would like some milk to drink but I can buy it. I used to have margarine and jam with bread but now I can afford it," said a respondent from Malawi.
Where milk, jam and bread are being sacrificed by some, basic food has become a luxury for some more - take the case of one in five people surveyed in developing countries, "who said that they sometimes, rarely or never had enough to eat on daily basis".
And gazing carelessly at the elaborate menus in fine dining restaurants, rarely do the fortunate few whove been spared from inclusion in the above categories realise how food losses and wastage add on to the problem in leaps and bounds.
An FAO study conducted for an international congress in Germany this year said, "One-third of the edible parts of food produced for human consumption, gets lost or wasted globally, which is about 1.3 billion tons per year."
Before jumping to blame the extravagance of the rich, especially in developed countries, for food wastage as one commonly would, one must know that the developing world has no clean slate.
While the latter is guilty of food losses earlier in the supply chain - losses at post-harvest and processing levels, - the former is at fault for gluttonous indulgence and wasteful, selective preferences for food worthy of their pampered tummies - losses at retail and consumer levels.
The FAO study further said that an average consumer in Europe and North-America wastes 95-115 kg a year, a harsh contrast to the 6-11 kg wasted by counterparts in sub-Saharan Africa and South and Southeast Asia.
Better transport and processing facilities in the developing world, developing formal markets for so-called substandard food that is otherwise carelessly discarded, proper linkages between farmers and food processors may help address some of the above issues.
If the issues aren paid heed to, the world runs risk of having too many food have-nots.
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