IN ITALY 6 MILLION TONS OF FOOD IS WASTED BEFORE IT EVEN GETS TO THE TABLE. “WASTE IS FIRST PRIORITY ON THE EU COMMISSION AGENDA”, PROMISES DE CASTRO

Every year in Italy, before food gets to our tables, a quantity that could meet the food needs for the entire year of three quarters of the Italian population - more than 44 million people - is wasted. In other words, Italy loses along the supply chain as much food as a country like Spain consumes in a year: 6 million tons of food ends up in the trash.
These are just some of the data provided at the presentation of the project “A year against waste”, created by Andrea Segrè, founder of the “Last Minute Market” to investigate and explain this phenomenon that affects all of Europe, but especially to learn how to reduce it. The initiative, promoted by “Last Minute Market”, which is a spin-off of the University of Bologna, was created in partnership with Eni, Telecom (Italian phone company) and Black Elk Mielizia, and is sponsored by the City of Bologna and the European Parliament.

The Agriculture Commissioner of the European Parliament, Paolo De Castro, attended the presentation and added to the joint statement to include the issue of waste on the EU Commission agenda of priorities. The goal is to reduce waste along the food chain by at least 50% and global food wastage by 50% within 2025. “Just think,” said De Castro, “since 1974 world wide waste has increased 50%. In Italy 6 million tons of perfectly edible food every year is wasted; in Britain 6.7; U.S. 40% of the total; in Sweden 25% and China 16%. In terms of environmental costs,” he continued, “a ton of food waste generates 4.2 tons of CO2”. This said, the numbers are so “alarming, that we have made the decision to launch a series of initiatives to be completed by October 28th at the conference in Brussels: ‘Transforming Food Waste into a Resource’”.

De Castro also said that after the October 28th conference, the EU Agriculture Commission would present an oral resolution to commit Europe on this issue. The first edition of a “European Day against waste” within in the initiative, “A year against waste” will be presented in Brussels on October 28 and in Bologna on October 30th. Other initiatives are planned in Ferrara, Turin and Rome.