Tag: Antiwaste

The first anti-waste community refrigerator arrives in Japan – Italian Cuisine

The first community fridge was recently inaugurated in Japan, an initiative designed to combat food waste and food poverty

In Japan, every year, more than 6 million tons of edible food are thrown away, yet it is not easy to stem this problem and, above all, to link the environmental aspect to the social one of the right to food. However, a community fridge in Okayama, a beautiful anti-waste initiative which in addition to making an important contribution in terms of environmental impact it also represents an important support in the redistribution of food and in the fight against poverty and food insecurity. This project sees the light for the first time in Japan, not surprisingly during the difficult period of the Covid-19 pandemic. In other parts of the world the concept of the community refrigerator has already spread widely since 2012, just think that the Hubbub, the world's largest network, includes over 100 refrigerators scattered throughout the UK alone.

How the idea of the Kitanagase Community Fridge was born in Japan

The idea of importing the concept of the community fridge to Japan is thanks to Kenichi Narita, an ambitious and sensitive 42-year-old cook. After spending a period in the hospital during his adolescence due to cancer, he decided to do everything possible to help people in need. The idea of combining this desire with the issue of food waste came to him in adulthood after starting to work as a cook in a restaurant. It is on this occasion, in fact, that he became aware of appalling amount of still edible food being wasted or thrown away. Narita, now a restaurant manager in Okayama prefecture, has therefore decided to take advantage of the time of the Covid-19 pandemic and the consequent economic difficulties to launch an initiative that could make a difference within its community. After researching and traveling to the UK to field study the Hubbub Community Fridge Network, Kenichi Narita is finally able to introduce this project to Japan as well. In November 2020, thanks to him and in collaboration with the Kitanagase Area Management, the first community fridge of the Rising Sun.

Food recycling and solidarity network

The Kitanagase Community Fridge project is based on a concrete and well thought out program serving the community. First of all, it must be said that the fridge is located in an unmanned warehouse inside a shopping center and which actually includes a refrigerator, a freezer and a shelf. The contribution comes from around 60 local businesses, farmers and families who donate food and other non-perishable household goods, and not from supermarkets as is the case in the UK. Among the foods present, all intact, in excellent condition and not expired, there are fruits and vegetables, but also tofu, meat, noodle cup, canned or frozen food, bread and snacks. I am alone in using them community members who have a low income and who, after registering for the program, have access to the community refrigerator anonymously and independently, via an app to download.

There are currently about 300 Japanese families registered, but the hope is that this service will spread to other parts of the country and inspire other communities around the world.

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Bella Dentro, the first anti-waste fruit shop arrives in Milan – Italian Cuisine

Bella Dentro: in Milan, in the Caiazzo area, has opened the first fruit shop that fights food waste by challenging the logic of the market

A project against food waste can it be "sexy" as well as useful? The boys of Beautiful Inside they succeeded. And they did so, thanks to an evident urgency and passion, a couple of years ago, traveling with their apecar covered with grass the streets of Milan and today opening, in the Caiazzo area, the first store with the Bella Dentro brand. Here you can buy them "ugly" but good fruit and vegetables, fresh ed dried, and also some excellent ones jams. All while saving – for now – 46762 kg of fruit and vegetables, as we read – green on white – in the LED sign that stands out on a wall of the shop. Food that otherwise would have been thrown away, just for not respecting those aesthetic standards that the market imposes, but what create enormous damage to farmers, the environment and the economy.

Bella Inside, this is how the idea was born

That Camilla is Luca they had courage, you can guess from their personal stories. Both are just over thirty. A few years ago they decided to leave a promising career in the advertising and business sectors respectively for throw themselves into an enterprise that not even they know where it will lead them. The only thing they are convinced of is that it is the right thing to do. They understand this by reading an article on food waste in the world: according to the FAO, 1.3 billion tons of food are thrown away every year, equal to one third of the total production destined for human consumption. The only waste of food in Italy has a economic value that wanders around 13 billion euros per year.

Bella Dentro, “in the field” against food waste

Thus was born the idea of Bella Dentro. Although before embarking on the enterprise, the two boys moved to Emilia Romagna where, for a while, they conducted investigations, also being laborers. "Going" to the field "was the only way to touch the dynamics that govern the agricultural supply chain. Over time we have managed to get in touch with almost all the players in the agri-food chain and even talk to some buyers from the large-scale distribution , explains Camilla, still almost incredulous that she had succeeded.

The two winning cards of the project

Bella Dentro's idea works because it absorbs a slice of the market that would otherwise be in total loss. In fact, they buy at a fair price directly from farmers or cooperatives that part of fruit and vegetable production that is good, but which is rejected by cooperatives and large retailers for aesthetic reasons. The fruit comes mainly from Emilia Romagna, apart from citrus fruits that come from Sicily and apples from Trentino Alto Adige. Vegetables, on the other hand, come from all over Italy, with Lazio in the lead. Another winning aspect of the project is the communication, captivating and ironic, which aims to deconstruct a rhetoric of the product (which must be aesthetically perfect to be also good) to which we are all a bit addicted now.

Shop and transformation workshop, now we think big

At the end of last year, Camilla and Luca started the second phase of the project, with the entry into society of the Social Veture Giordano dell’Amore Foundation, which made it possible to start thinking big. Not only for having taken root with a shop window in front of which the patrons and the inhabitants of the neighborhood stop curious, but also for another reason. With the shop – and the inclusion in the group of a new travel companion, Giuditta – the transformation laboratory, the real strength of their architecture, because it will allow them to collect ever-increasing quantities of fruit and vegetables without having to worry about them rotting in warehouses. "To save the product you have to free yourself from perishable: transforming it is the best way to keep it longer. This is how the line of jams was born, but above all of dried products .

Camilla and Luca, faithful to the line from start to finish

A curious choice is that of drying courgettes, aubergines and cucumbers, but which perfectly reflects the philosophy behind Bella Dentro. «While defects are hidden with jams, those imperfections remain visible in dried products, as if to remind us once again that to be good, vegetables or fruit don't have to be beautiful. In addition, no other ingredients are consumed and the nutritional values are maintained unaltered . Even that of the transformation laboratory was not a random choice. This is located in Codogno and is managed by The Workshop, a social cooperative that for various reasons is also… beautiful inside. “It was theirs that convinced us inclusive approach: in the laboratory they work approx a dozen boys and girls with disabilities. They do with people what we try to do with fruit and vegetables .

The restart of Salina: anti-waste breakfast and sustainable tourism – Italian Cuisine

The Caruso brothers of the Signum are focusing on a new à la carte service, more refined and ethical, and on associations with other operators on the island.

In times of crisis, you can surrender or take the moment to develop new opportunities. In the most difficult year for the Italian tourism sector (and not only), the brothers Luca and Martina Caruso – respectively director and 1 Michelin star chef ofHotel Signum in Salina – aim at relaunching the short but intense season of the Aeolian archipelago.

The staff – mainly made up of young people under 30 from the Sicilian territory – has been totally reconfirmed, while one of the main novelties of 2020 is the abolition of the breakfast buffet – as required by government provisions – to make room for a a la carte service personally supervised by Martina Caruso: "During the lockdown we decided to enhance the first meal of the day, too often overlooked by the hotel industry, with the desire to maintain this express breakfast formula for years to come".

Cannolo with Aeolian ricotta, granita with the blackberries of Vulcan, honey of Sicilian black bee, are just some of the specialties served on the Signum terrace, from which you can admire the profile of Panarea is Stromboli on the horizon. All very fresh products that risked a quick deterioration with the buffet mode: «In past years – adds Luca Caruso – we realized that this setting generated a lot of waste, especially in the height of summer with high temperatures; the formula at the table, on the other hand, allows to preserve the integrity and quality of the raw material. At the same time we wanted to give our guests an extra cuddle, inserting porcelain cups and plates that recall grandmother's service .

For those who choose one of the nine suites, there is also the possibility of having breakfast directly in the room (you order through a form to be filled out the night before), in the shade of the typical Aeolian beam that opens onto the sea. Starting this year, the Signum has adopted the policy of room only rate, in order to leave the customer even more free. A choice that wants to equate, for dignity and importance, all three meals of the day (breakfast / lunch / dinner), to be booked separately as extra costs to the stay.

"There is a great desire for Italy – concludes Luca – and for the South in general. The Aeolian Islands are ready to face this new challenge with their heads held high, comforted by the July and August reservations of Italians and Europeans, who have filled the void left by the American and other foreign countries. With the association Salina Isola Verde – which brings together the main hotels, including the Hotel Signum – we work in harmony to promote Salina as a destination. A virtuous example of synergy between entrepreneurs united by a green mentality, increasingly oriented towards a model of sustainable tourism. The first result came in 2018 when the Municipality of Malfa banned the use of plastic for glasses, plates, cutlery, straws and disposable bags, in favor of biodegradable or compostable materials. Among the next objectives is the intensification of the use of solar panels and electric motors – Salina is part of the six pilot islands (the only Italian one) of the European transition project for energy self-sufficiency "Clean Energy for EU Islands" – and then the adoption of even more restrictive measures for the protection of the wooded and marine areas of the island.