Reduce food waste by distributing food to the needy. The virtuous cycle of solidarity activated by food banks, such as the Food Bank in Italy, shows its effectiveness in the report ‘
Waste Not, Want Not – Toward Zero Hunger: Food Banks – A Green Solution to Hunger.
‘, published by the Global Food Banks Network (GFN, ‘
Global FoodBanking Network
‘). (1) Waiting for UN member states to assume their responsibilities to ensure the universal human rights of access to food – safe, nutritious and balanced – and clean water.
Less waste, less hunger
The
modus operandi
of food banks is well known. Organizations collect unsold or otherwise close to expiration food from food processors (farms and processors, distributors). Other food is collected from the consumers themselves and communities (e.g., cultural centers, associations, parishes) on dedicated days. Other essential foods are purchased through donations received. The organizations then distribute food to the weaker segments of the population through food package delivery and meal service in charitable soup kitchens.
The global network operates in 57 countries through more or less complex organizations under three macro-organizations:
– the ‘Global FoodBanking Network’ (GFN), active in 30 countries, provides food aid to 9 million people,
– the ‘European Food Banks Federation‘ (FEBA), the federation of the 24 ‘Food Bank‘ operating in Europe,
– ‘
Feeding America
‘ founded in 1979 in the United States.
Overall, food banks recover 2.68 million tons of edible food each year for re-distribution to 62.5 million people. Saving such foodstuffs alone from the food waste to which they would otherwise go results in annual savings of more than 10 million tons of CO2, equal to the emissions of 2.2 million cars (slightly less than the number of cars on the road in the entire region of Puglia, ed.).
The Food Bank in Italy
The Food Bank is the protagonist in Italy of a solidarity network that was activated in 1989 and today operates through 21 organizations throughout the country, thanks to the work of 1,878 volunteers and the active contribution of many others. Including households and individual consumers who in turn offer food, on collection days (over 8 thousand tons, on 24.11.18). In addition to cash donations and ‘5 per thousand‘.
The Food Bank employs all economic resources to collect and redistribute food, with an ever-increasing flow. In 2017, it collected 91 thousand tons of food that was redistributed to 1.5 million people through its more than 8 thousand affiliated charitable facilities.
Clear labels, less waste
Food waste remains an unresolved emergency. It is essential to take a systemic approach, to address the issues of overproduction and other distortions of a system that nevertheless tends to preserve its inefficiencies to feed the speculative interests of its protagonists.
ConsumAtors, in turn, must be more careful to reduce waste. In food storage, but even earlier in their purchase. It is at this stage, GFN points out, that a significant share of food waste accrues due to the lack of understanding of the dates on food packages.
One in 5 foods is mistakenly thrown in the trash by consumers, due to confusion generated by product durability claims that lend themselves to misunderstanding. Expressions such as ‘Best by’, ‘Best before’, ‘Use by’, and ‘Sell by’ are often misunderstood and cause a loss of still edible food estimated globally at 20 percent of purchases.
Misunderstanding about labels also takes place in Europe and Italy, and is undoubtedly a cause of waste. While product durability information is clear on the label of packaged (pre-packaged) foods, the same cannot be said for so-called pre-wrapped foods. In brief:
– ‘
preferably consumed within
‘ (‘best before’, in English) is the wording used to designate the so-called TMC (minimum shelf life. That is, the period within which the operator suggests consuming the food in order to best appreciate its organoleptic qualities. In later periods, the food may sometimes be less appreciable, but it remains safe,
– ‘consume within‘ (‘use by‘), on the other hand, is the peremptory term indicating the expiration date, in products that are rapidly microbiologically perishable. Past that date, the product must be taken off the shelves as it may have food safety issues,
– prewrapped foods. The so-called preincarnations ‘for the purpose of direct sales’ – e.g., slices of cheese wrapped in foil and placed in the refrigerated counter with only the distributor’s synthetic label-they often remain enigmatic. The liability of distributors was clarified, with Leg. 231/17, regarding news to be reported on bulk and pre-wrapped foods.
And yet, neither the European nor the Italian legislature has made explicit the duty to mention on prewrappers the deadline by which the food must be consumed. Thus, an essential piece of information for the purpose of consuming the product in https://www.greatitalianfoodtrade.it/etichette/controlli-il-ruolo-dellamministrazione-sanitaria/ is missed, to which is sometimes added the further uncertainty of the date of prewrapping’, which is not provided for in the ‘Food Information Regulation‘ and therefore illegal. As well as a cause, precisely, of waste.
#Égalité!
Notes
(1) The Report is available at
http://www.foodbanking.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/GFN_WasteNot.pdf
Professional journalist since January 1995, he has worked for newspapers (Il Messaggero, Paese Sera, La Stampa) and periodicals (NumeroUno, Il Salvagente). She is the author of journalistic surveys on food, she has published the book "Reading labels to know what we eat".
