“We must stop treating food, which is a fundamental good for all, as a bargaining chip for a few,” Pope Francis wrote in a Spanish-language message for the International Day of Awareness of Food Loss and Waste.

“Both food loss and food waste are truly deplorable events because they divide humanity between those who have too much and those who lack the essentials; because they increase inequalities, generate injustice and deny the poor what they need to live in dignity,” he added.