Food waste: free meals (or almost) with one click

Good practices In Europe and Italy

What matters, beyond the figures, the result of different approaches, is that the reduction of waste is instead one of the objectives to achieve that sustainability on which the well-being of the planet depends and for which the European Union has been spending for years. In the front row in supporting local initiatives, in fact, the EU has financed many projects to make citizens more aware and spread good practices (an overview to the site foodrus.eu). In this aided by digital technology, which guides consumers towards smarter shopping and effective waste management. For example, the solution proposed by the European platform SavingFood was innovative, which involved shopkeepers, farmers, charities and volunteers in the donation of surplus food: it gave birth to a community where anti-waste experiences were shared.

«Promoting collaboration on a large scale between those who donate food and the non-profit organizations that benefit from it motivated the participants to change their approach to consumption. We have created a social movement to reduce food waste »explains Vasia Madesi coordinator of the project, which involved Greece, Belgium, Great Britain and Hungary. Memorable are the Disco soups, anti-waste parties where members of the communities prepared and shared soups, bruschetta and smoothies with ingredients strictly from surplus supply chains. Twin of SavingFood is the Italian solidarity initiative Save the food, born in collaboration between Cuki and the Banco Alimentare Foundation, which has crossed the 10-year milestone, during which volunteers have “saved” 20 million meals, transferring the “leftovers” in aluminum containers to eight charities. The service involved large retailers and above all restaurants.

Donate leftover food

The platform also makes communication between those with surplus food and those who distribute it to the most vulnerable quick Ecibo of the Food Bank of Rome which speed up donations of leftovers. «The system puts in direct contact the operator of the food sector, for example a member supermarket, who inserts the list of surpluses to be donated on the Ecibo platform and the charities. In a few seconds, the notification of the offer arrives to the latter, who book the donation and decide the collection time, then taking care of the distribution »explains Antonio Daood, President of the Banco Alimentare di Roma. The association has just presented the project “Tonight I offer“a web platform accessible from smartphones that allows direct recovery of the daily unsold goods of small operators (bakeries, restaurants, butchers, fishmongers, fruit and vegetables) by people in difficulty. «Tonight I offer I bring together shopkeepers and citizens who from“ assisted ”become“ guests ”and can also choose independently what and when to book» continues Antonio Daood.

Catering resources

The destruction of food is consumed above all where it is prepared for large numbers: wedding lunches and dinners, conferences or business meetings. The Roman association Fair eventfounded by Carlo De Sanctis, Giulia Proietti and Francesco Colicci, he recovers the meals coming from these events by turning them directly to the soup kitchens. The eco-friendly project has made more than 400 occasions “fair”, with the distribution of over 250 thousand meals for the benefit of ten thousand people in difficulty. «It is the organizers of the event who contact us via email and their data are subsequently added to the platform shared with the volunteers. Once the methods for recovering the surplus have been agreed, they are packaged in thermal containers and transported to the address given within 24 hours »explains Carlo De Sanctis. The guys from Equoevento also use the platform to monitor logistics and collections, offering the service in cities where they are not permanently operational.

Close up view of a plate with delicious meat salad on the table.

Small, ugly, but good and affordable

The anti-waste platforms they also help to sell quality but “ugly” seasonal products. In Milan in March 2020 it arose Babaco Market. “We find fruit and vegetable markets that do not exceed the beauty standards of traditional sales, or that are produced by companies that are too small to supply those channels continuously and too large to dispose of the product with direct sales” explains Francesca Mori who di Babaco market is the communication manager. Subscribers to the service receive a “surprise box” every week and save on average 30 percent compared to the cost of fruit and vegetables of equal quality and origin. «We decide the contents of the box, based on the surplus we havebut if allergy-prone products come in, such as broad beans, we will notify you in advance so that we can replace them, if needed, “he specifies. Fruits and vegetables come from all over Italy but the service currently works between Milan, Monza, Varese, Parma, Bologna and Reggio Emilia. Occupying this slice of the market already has a solidarity implication for Mori. «Babaco market, however, also collaborates with Recup, which distributes the surpluses of the Milan markets in the social sector. They take our unsold money, obviously for free ».

Even restaurateurs today have the opportunity to support a more conscious approach to consumption. To help them is Winnow Vision, a robot connected to a camera installed above the garbage cans that records images of what ends up in the waste. The data is analyzed by the operating system which estimates its weight, and passes the information to the chef. Winnow Vision was used in the kitchen of Elior Fourchette’s restaurant in Milan, playfully involving customers in reflecting on waste. This is precisely the goal: to change your lifestyle lightly.

Let’s save the panettone!

On the occasion of the day of 5 February, Too good to goa platform active in many Italian cities (not only) that buys unsold food at reduced prices, has launched a fun campaign to reuse Christmas sweets.

Is called #SaveThePanettone the initiative that Too good to go, an international App active in many Italian cities, launched in view of the World Day against food waste. The App, which brings unsold goods from grocery stores back into play at discounted prices, this time aims to prevent holiday sweets from ending up in the dustbin. This is why it has been enriched with Remix, an eBook of recipes and anti-waste advice, offered free to users with ideas from all over the world. And which, in the Italian version, includes an anti-waste recipe given by the master pastry chef Ernest Knam. The Ebook wants to help consumers change their habits by offering creative ideas for snacks, desserts or complete meals “ explains Eugenio Sapora, Country Manager Italy of Too Good To Go. The managers of the App are aiming for Christmas, not by chance: this is the occasion when everyone is the most wasteful. In Italy alone in that period over 500 thousand tons of food were thrown away, with an economic loss per family of 80 euros. #SaveThePanettone, active in Milan, Rome, Palermo and in over one hundred shops from north to south Italy, therefore makes special Magic Boxes available to users containing the Christmas products to “save”.

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