More than half of food waste is generated by households and consumers, stresses Latvian MEP Inese Vaidere.
Representatives of the politician’s office report that
every year a single EU resident throws away more than 130 kg of food on average.
Overall, this accounts for about a third of total food production, which is worth EUR 132 billion, or almost one annual EU budget.
Data indicates that food waste accounts for 7% of all EU waste. Vaidere mentions that this is unacceptable. Food production uses human labour and raw materials, as well as generates waste and emissions.
The politician’s pilot project has resulted in practical advice to help reduce food waste.
Vaidere’s project received praise from her colleagues in the European Parliament. EUR 650 000 was allocated to address the problems listed in it.
According to Vaidere, solutions developed by experts present practical benefits for Latvia and the whole of Europe, because they will help implement food waste reduction on a national and local level.
During the conference How to reduce food waste? in Brussels solutions were presented to solve this problem. They will serve as a road map for all those involved in the food chain, including local and national-level decision-makers, mass media, education institutions, researchers, businesses and individual households.
16 experts from different countries were able to put together a forum to help reduce consumer food waste thanks to the provided funding.
A model for evaluation of proposed solutions was created. Experts also looked at examples of good practice that have already proven their effectiveness.
One of the biggest conclusions made by experts is that food waste reduction measures should be adapted to local context, habits and cultural norms.
The education sector should focus on specific and simple everyday actions.
Households should pay attention towards each of the five stages of food circulation – food planning, delivery, storage, preparation and consumption. It is important to employ methods like creating shopping lists, organisation of food items in the refrigerator based on their expiration date, as well as use of measuring cups.
Next week the European Commission is expected to present proposals for food waste reduction goals for EU member states.
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