A third of all food produced globally is lost but that percentage is much higher in the so-called developed countries. As well as that, according to the FAO the food that is thrown away is responsible for up to 10% of the greenhouse gases and 30% of land resources are used to produce food that ends up being discarded. One of the most visible examples of food waste is in school canteens where every day food that has not even been served on the table is needlessly thrown out. A few weeks ago on the programme on La Sexta, Te lo vas a comer, the well-known chef Alberto Chicote showed how schools in Madrid were throwing into bins food that could feed other people. Closer to home in Tolosa a student, Onintza Rojas, investigated food waste in 13 schools around Tolosa and found that 27 tons of food are lost every year!
Of course Tolosa is no different to Mungia in this respect or any other town in the Basque Country except for some exceptions such as Laukariz school where food waste is reduced to a minimum. A few years ago we presented Mungia town-hall the Solidarity Fridge project and proposed setting it up at the back of the town-hall but they felt that this presented legal technicalities that they didn’t want to assume. It`s true that it is not entirely legal but it is not illegal to donate food and the people behind the Solidarity Fridge project are ready to assume full legal responsibility. There has never been any problems in any of the towns where it has been set up, Plentzia being a good example of a local town that supports this proyect..
Nowadays the initiators of the Solidarity Fridge have come up with another project, Rexcatering, which ensures that left-over food in schools can be safely recovered for other people who can eat and in so doing avoiding it being sent to the incinerator or landfill. Not only is this a perfectly viable project but it is one which has been chosen by Innobasque Berrikuntza Innovación as one of the six best practices which will be recognized in an awards ceremony in the BEC on 3rd November.
BBT is calling on all schools and homes for elderly people in Mungia to consider how much food is being wasted, take measures to reduce that, ensure that what is thrown off the plates goes into the brown bin and to talk to Rexcatering to see how food that is not even served can be used to feed other people. It is not illegal to give food away and at the end of the day it is immoral to throw away perfectly good food, especially as almost all of it ends up in the bin!
