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This year’s Olympic Games could revolutionize the way we manage food surpluses, writes Massimo Bottura
Los 2024 Olympic Games They have just started, and they will be spectacular. Along with the timeless beauty of the host city, Paris, and the ambition of more than 10,000 athletesits organizers intend to establish new sustainability standardscircularity and waste reduction.
Regarding the reduction of food waste, this ambition is at least as noble as that of the athletes trying to break records this year. Every year a thousand are wasted million tons of food.
Only in homes are they wasted more than a billion meals a day in a world where one in 10 people are hungry. As a lover of food and people, I find this waste on this scale unacceptable.
We must harness the full potential of food
Los Paris Olympic Games They are an opportunity to act. At the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games, I was surprised to learn that the fruits and vegetables unused were sent to burn because it was more expensive to distribute among the needy.
My wife and I started “Food for the Soul” to collect these surpluses and show their potential in the preparation of tasty meals and healthy foods served with hospitality to people in situations of social vulnerability.
It started as a cultural project for raise awareness about food waste and the Social isolationwith the ultimate goal of changing the way we care for people and the planet.
The organizers of the 2024 Olympic Games recognize the problem and have committed to collaborate with associations who will be in charge of collecting and redistributing food surpluses, as well as adapting recipes to maximize your use and proper food portion sizes.
The Paris Food Vision 2024 plan is dedicated to the recovery of 100% of resources uneaten food. If plans are put into practice, it could be a big step forward: baseline report planned about food waste generated by the 13 million meals to be served during the Olympic Games could inform and improve practices in the future Olympic Games in Milan, Los Angeles and Brisbane.
If the industrial age created unprecedented abundance at revolutionize production of food, the 21st century needs a new revolution in food consumption to halve food waste by 2030.
According to the Food Waste Index of the United Nations Program for the Environment (UNEP) this year, one third of humanity is facing food insecuritywhile the equivalent of billion meals is wasted every day.
As we move away from the traditional practices of rural life, we now we waste more and more in cities. Instead of cooking and dining communally, we increasingly eat alone.
With thousands of million viewers In Paris and at home, the Olympic Games offer a great opportunity to raise consumer awareness about the effects of food waste on the environment and the simple measures that can be taken during the games and, what is more important, when returning home. After all, at home is where the most food is wasted, as confirmed by UNEP.
This means buying and storing food responsibly and use leftovers creatively. People are often surprised to learn how easy it is. store and transform everyday foods such as celery leaves, breadcrumbs, dried fruit and parmesan rinds in wonderful broths, ice creams, traditional sauces and appetizers.
Buy smart, waste less
Greater public awareness could also motivate governments to act. Although only a few countries have included reducing food loss and waste in their national climate plansWhen governments act, the results are impressive.
Within a few years, the United Kingdom and Japan reduced food waste by 20% to 30%. The China’s “Clean Plate” campaign focused on both food waste and food insecurity.
ADVERTISINGBrazil is measuring food waste and developing new strategies nationals to reduce it. In my own country, Italy, a law uses tax relief as an incentive for food donations about to be wasted.
I’ve been in this industry for over four decades, and my motto applies to restaurants, retailers, and homes: buy smart, waste less. Buying seasonal, local and sustainable ingredients is the first step to get healthier meals that reduce food waste.
Cook with what is there in the pantry and emptying the refrigerator before buying more are simple steps to reduce food waste at home. The dividends of revolutionizing our food loss and waste system they wouldn’t be any less exciting than any of the 329 gold medals that will be won at the Paris Olympic Games: It can reduce up to 10% global greenhouse gas emissions and promote biodiversity. It would save water, reduce poverty and contribute to economic growth.
By implementing a system that guarantees that 100% of food is not wasted, but is controlled and measured, and the results are shared, the Paris Olympic Games can establish a new standard for waste reduction food. It can also encourage many other events, such as conferences, competitions or concerts, to place this challenge in the foreground of our priorities.
ADVERTISINGMassimo Bottura is a renowned Italian chef, co-founder of Food for Soul and Goodwill Ambassador of the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP).
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