Reducing Food Waste
In the OIC Member Countries
COMCEC
Love Food Hate Waste: United Kingdom
wrap L iVE
FOOD
hatewaste
The most long-standing and recognized initiative is the Waste
& Resources Action Programme’s (WRAP] ‘Love Food Hate
Waste’ campaign (WRAP, 2016). The aim of the campaign is to
raise food waste reduction awareness in citizens and
companies in the United Kingdom (UK], The programme was
developed off the back of significant investment in ground-breaking evidence-based research
which aimed to understand how much food UK households were throwing away, what food
types and the reasons and behaviors behind disposal. A seminal report ‘Household Food and
Drink Waste in the UK’was published by WRAP (WRAP, 2007) which provided the backbone for
future research and the ‘Love Food Hate Waste’ campaign. Due to the success of the programme,
WRAP have been called on by many countries and institutions, such as the UN’s Think.Eat.Save
campaign to provide guidance and facilitate the roll-out of similar initiatives globally.
Two other notable country-specific initiatives and actions have been implemented in Italy and
France.
Last Minute Market and the Food Bank Foundation Onlus: Italy
Italy has a long history of recognizing food waste and setting up initiatives for redistribution.
Almost 20 years ago, the ‘Last Minute Market’ was set up, initially as a research project to
recover surplus food from business and manufacturing activities, produce not harvested and left
in fields, and ready-made meals from the food service sector. In 2003 it become a country-wide
commercial business.
In 1989, the Food Bank Foundation Onlus (FBAO) was established to collect surplus food from
agriculture, the food industry, large-scale retailers and franchise restaurants to redistribute to
organizations that deal with aid and assistance. In 2011, over 68,000 tonnes of food were
recovered and collected for those in most need.
Most recently, Italy made headlines with the introduction of a law to relax regulations that
prohibit the redistribution of food through donations (Kirchgaessner, 2016). The aim of the law
is to encourage firms to donate food and lift restrictions on e.g. the use of leftover bags by
restaurants. It also clarifies that food may still be donated even if it is past its sell-by date, and
allows farmers to transfer produce to charities at no extra cost if it has not been sold.
French National Association for the Development of Solidarity Groceries: France
In 2010, the French National Association for the Development of Solidarity
Groceries (ANDES) was set up as a network to address the problem of
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hunger and malnutrition. The solidarity stores are commercial businesses »
where low income consumers can purchase everyday products at about S
10-20% less than their normal retail price. One of the key objectives of the \
ANDES network is to reduce fruit and vegetable waste by collecting unsold
but still edible products that would otherwise be destroyed, from the
distribution channel.
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