What a good initiative, I would like to see similar legislation in our countries. This is the recipe to feed the world: stop throwing away a third of the food produced and thus prevent tens of millions of children from going to bed hungry.
All the ingredients are there: a social movement in France just got a law passed requiring supermarkets to give the poor and homeless food that isn’t sold; the European Union (EU) is consulting on how to prevent supermarkets from canceling large orders for food that farmers and ranchers have already produced for them, and the UN is setting a global goal to cut food waste in half.
The French government wants to halve food waste by 2025 and has obtained the unanimous support of the National Assembly for this. Through an amendment to the Energy Transition Law, as of July 1 of next year, supermarkets with more than 400 square meters will not be able to throw away perishable products. They must donate them to organizations dedicated to animal feeding or the manufacture of agricultural fertilizers.
An amendment by the former Socialist Delegate Minister for Agriculture Guillaume Garot, a politician who has spent years committed to the fight against food waste, has been adopted this Thursday. “Seeing the bottles of bleach scattered in the garbage of large supermarkets with consumable food is scandalous,” said Garot.
According to data from Ministry of Ecology, in France 20 kilos of food are thrown away per person per year. The FAO considers that up to a third of food for human consumption is wasted. In total, 1.3 billion tons a year are wasted, producing 3,300 tons of carbon dioxide. In reality, according to this international institution, half of food is wasted on its way from the field to the plate. France has been engaged in this fight since a working group on the subject was set up in 2010. Its conclusions, adopted three years ago, are similar to those now being introduced into the law, although what is sought is the commitment of the entire food production and distribution chain. In a statement, the Federation of Commerce and Distribution regretted the approval of these measures, although it assures that they are already collaborating with NGOs to donate food that is not sold. “The law is wrong in objective and subject,” says the statement. “Large surfaces only represent 5% of total food waste and generates new standards.”
Another measure that is intended to be adopted in the fight against food waste is the inclusion of a social and environmental responsibility plan in the children’s educational program so that in the future they will be responsible adults and reduce food waste.
Source: Diario Ecologia by diarioecologia.com.
*The article has been translated based on the content of Diario Ecologia by diarioecologia.com. If there is any problem regarding the content, copyright, please leave a report below the article. We will try to process as quickly as possible to protect the rights of the author. Thank you very much!
*We just want readers to access information more quickly and easily with other multilingual content, instead of information only available in a certain language.
*We always respect the copyright of the content of the author and always include the original link of the source article.If the author disagrees, just leave the report below the article, the article will be edited or deleted at the request of the author. Thanks very much! Best regards!
