Celebrate hers eighth edition there World Day Against Food Waste, an annual opportunity to take stock of a fundamental issue in terms of poverty and environmental protection. Two simple facts are enough to suggest some reflection: we consume only 65% ​​of the food produced and the food sector is responsible for 25% of greenhouse gas emissions. That is: we do not eat everything we produce and this (over) production has a significant impact on the health of the planet.

We waste too much and this in stark contrast to the growing poverty, which has been increasing in the last year. There economic crisis, which has affected us directly, has forced many groups of consumers to save more. This dramatic situation showed only one positive side: the long one lockdown and new lifestyles due to the pandemic have stimulated greater awareness that has led us, among other things, to reduce waste. In fact in the 2020 every Italian citizen threw in the trash on average 27 kg of food, 3.6 kg less than in 2019.

Anti-waste initiatives

There are many projects of non-profit associations and companies committed to sustainability, which have been working for years to help reduce waste and distribute food goods fairly.

Among these is the Food Bank, the Foundation that every day since 1989 recovers what is not consumed in collective canteens and large-scale distribution, redistributing it to the loading bodies. Over time, the association has seen requests for food aid grow by an average of about 40%, while the people who have turned to the loading agencies have gone from 1.5 million to approximately 2.2 million. An alarming fact that deserves reflection.

At Banco Alimentare he joins Cuki Save the Food, the social responsibility project that helps to combat food waste, favoring the recovery of food in two ways. Siticibo, is one of these, namely the recovery of food in canteens and in collective catering places, donating them every day to those who need it. The other is the Save Bag, "the borsetts" useful for taking home what you don't enjoy at the restaurant. The initiative, this year, for the her 10th year of business managed to save 17 million portions of food from waste, sensitizing more and more all Italians to the value of food and the continuous fight against waste.

Also Barilla certainly it can be said to have done its part. On the occasion of this special and important World Day, the Foundation has put the data on food waste generated in our country into a system. "We still waste too much but we are on the right path", says the multinational. This means that the conditions are there, but the path is still long. ORevery Italian generates about 65kg of food waste per year, where is it 53% of waste is attributable to domestic consumption: vegetables, fruit and cereals. To say it is the Food Sustainability Index, or the index created by the Foundation Barilla in partnership with The Economist Intelligence Unit. The Index shows that, compared to the European average of 58kg per year, Italians still generate a rather high amount of food waste. Foundation Barilla, however, he believes that the good practices introduced during thelockdown have initiated an improvement and estimates that maintaining them over time can lead to a significant reduction in waste in our country in a systemic way.

Desparon the other hand, it committed itself to avoiding donations in 2020 a waste of 1,500 tons of food, thus generating a positive impact also on the reduction of waste to be disposed of. The action to combat waste has also made it possible not to lose over 4.9 million kg of CO2 used in the production of redistributed food. The anti-waste action of Despar consortium it is part of a collaboration framework with Federdistribuzione which every year, in synergy with non-profit organizations, provides for the redistribution of food surpluses.

Committed to the front are also Slow Food Youth Network Italy is Zero Waste Network who join forces and launch the awareness campaign Zero waste, which starting from today 1st February will present in-depth contents and will tell about realities that every day deal with transforming food waste from a criticality to a resource. The campaign is on air from 1 to 21 February and is being developed on the social channels of SFYN Italy (Instagram and Facebook) and the Zero Waste Network (Instagram and Facebook). The campaign will involve projects that recover and distribute food to people in conditions of fragility, such as ReFoodgees-Roma SalvaCibo in Rome and Avanzi Popolo in Bari. Realities that save food that is usually discarded because it does not comply with aesthetic standards, such as Bella Dentro in Milan o Too Good To Go, the ad hoc app against food waste that saves unsold food in shops and restaurants. The campaign will end with theZero Waste Aperitif, an obviously online event in which the realities involved in the campaign will participate. A virtual meeting place to create a moment of exchange between the participants and all the guests.

Interesting what Nature has done Yes, which having the reputation of largest company in the organic sector launched a June 2020, with Legambiente the SoPerNatura campaign, making available to customers imperfect products (fruit, vegetables), a little larger or a little smaller or simply with an unusual shape. But they are good all the same because they contain the same nutritional properties as any other biodynamic and organic product and even at a reduced price. Contrary to what is commonly done by consumers or to discard, throw away everything that does not comply with the standards of beauty and uniformity that the market has imposed. Summing up, on the occasion of this day, the results have been seen despite the difficult period: in fact to date 5-6% of the fruit and vegetables sold in stores (about 650 tons) belongs to SoForNature. By recovering and marketing what is defined as "defective", "different", we have gone from about 20% of product discarded on the fields to 4% ”.

Daily strategies

From World Day Against Food Waste a message of awareness arrives that also suggests new rhythms and virtuous habits that allow, with a modest commitment, to contribute to the reduction of waste. Here are some rules.

1- Make a list of foods to buy before going out for shopping, to avoid taking home unnecessary goods.

2- Plan meals to optimize household resources.

3- Arrange the foods in the fridge or pantry in order of expiry, highlighting the “oldest” ones to be used first.

4- Put the leftovers in the refrigerator and reuse them, transforming them into new dishes.