A bowl inside the fridge that houses all the food that needs to be eaten quickly, before it spoils, is an extremely good practice for reducing household food waste. A little further, on the shelves of a supermarket where fresh salads are placed, a mirror on top of the shelf makes it look fuller. So there is no need to place all the salads that will have spoiled by the evening and will have to be thrown away. In the kitchen of a restaurant, the waste bin sits on a scale, while a camera captures the moment something is emptied into the bin. With the help of artificial intelligence, a special application receives the data from the machine and the scale and analyzes what is thrown away and when, so that either only the food that is needed is bought, or the existing ones are better preserved.

These good practices are only a few of the many that exist and can be incorporated into the daily life of a family or a business in order to limit food waste and prevent the creation of waste from them. “There is a lot that one of us can do and the good in this case is twofold: both environmental and economic” he points out to APE-MPE the professor of the Department of Geography at Harokopion University, Katia Lazaridis. As the head of a research group developing an action plan to prevent the creation of food waste, as part of the Life program to promote circular economy actions in Greece, she points out that “behaviour can be changed, even with small practical tips and instructions” .

Everyone could have not thrown away 45 kg of food a year

“Greece is in fourth place from the bottom, among the 27 European countries, in terms of preventing the creation of food waste. This does not necessarily mean that it is more wasteful than other countries, due to the difference in methodology in each measurement, despite the existence of common guidelines. In any case, waste in our country is 191 kg per person per year, with the European average being 131 kg. Out of 191 kg, 87 is food waste and out of 87 kg 42 is inedible and 45 is edible. This means that each of us could not have bought and thrown away 45 kg of food every year” notes Ms. Lazaridis.

As for where interventions can be made to reduce food waste, he emphasizes that these are at every stage of the supply chain, so action can be taken at households, the catering sector, retail and wholesale. sale, processing and agricultural production.

Good practices in households

“The key to preventing food waste is to plan our purchases well so we don’t buy things we won’t consume. Planning can also be done for cooking, with weekly lists, general meal plan for the week and before shopping, checking what is in the cupboards and the fridge. It is also good not to put what we buy in the front seats when there are leftover food further back. This practice is systematically applied in all warehouses as well as in the canteen” comments the professor of the Department of Geography at Harokopion University.

In addition, it is good to use any leftover food for a new recipe (for example with the cheese, yogurt and vegetables left in the fridge). “Most cooking recipes aren’t written in stone, so a little creativity in the kitchen can save a lot,” he adds.

The list of smart solutions in households is also completed by buying fresh food more often, before it has time to spoil, not preparing food in large quantities, portioning out and placing unused food in the freezer, properly storing food so that it does not spoil easily, the careful reading of expiration or use-by dates preferably and the use of senses on the part of consumers to determine whether something has gone bad or not.

Catering, processing and supermarkets

Some of the above actions are already being implemented in practice in the catering sector for reasons of saving resources. For example, better procurement planning is done, restaurant customers are offered the choice between a large or small portion, it is possible to receive leftover food in a package for home, while there is an interface between restaurants, hotels and supermarkets with social organizations for donation food to feed people belonging to vulnerable groups of the population.

Some other possibilities are the creation of animal feed from products of the primary sector that are not taken to the market due to packaging errors, the training of supermarket staff to look out for short-legged animals, the interconnection of donors with social agencies and the promotion of short-legged animals at lower prices, a practice that is quite widespread mainly abroad.

“It is a matter of information, knowledge but also testing, in an experiential way. It is an overall process of behavior change that requires a lot of time, but it can pay off a lot,” emphasizes Ms. Lazaridis. At the same time, it informs that legislative developments are expected at the level of the European Union, through which its member countries will be called upon to take mandatory action to reduce food waste by a certain percentage by 2030.