Fundesplayi has managed to reduce its size Approximately 600 kilograms per week The food is thrown away in the canteens of about fifty schools where they run this service.
They were able to do this thanks to the so-called Waste auditsan initiative included in “Food Changes the World” program. This helped the students Become aware and change habits So you don’t have to throw away the food.
To conduct a waste audit, students of each center They have an adapted piece of furniture with three containers. They separate the leftover food that cannot be used from what is left on the plate but is edible, and they have a third container for water. When they finish eating Weigh the rest and record the data in the network Allowing them to track how much food they waste.
The purpose of this initiative is Re-evaluate food as good for everyoneAs Susana Escardivol, educator and member of the Innovation and Content team at Fundesplai, explains:
“This is the central goal: to value what we eat, and to give value to food, as a public good, not as a commodity, which is what is currently moving.”
Last year they did one Experimental testing The result is that they were able to reduce the amount of food thrown away at each school by approximately 12 kilograms per week. Apart from collecting data, it has also been accomplished Activities to work on awareness Don’t waste it
Children’s experience
some Children from the Cervantes School in Barcelona Those who stay for lunch at the canteen explain how the experience has changed them: “I don’t throw anything away and I do my best to eat everything,” says one girl. “I learned too,” adds a colleague.
Another colleague of his has a personal strategy: “I eat less, and if I get hungry later, I repeat“.
Other changes in habits that children explain indicate this Strive to eat everything Or think about people who cannot eat because they do not have anything. One of the children says that he no longer leaves fish on his plate: “I always make an effort to eat fish, and every day I love it more.”
One girl says that she now does not throw away food out of conscience: “I try not to waste food, because… There are people living on the streets and they do not have foodFor this.”
the total, Fundesplai runs canteen service in 200 schools The goal is to spread the initiative to the rest of the centers.
What can schools do?
There are small measures to avoid wasting food Available to all schoolsHow to promote respect for food, Explain where they come from and how much they cost to produceWhat nutrients does food provide us or why is it important to eat everything.
It can be done too Communication campaigns Save the entire school community from the cost of disposing of food. When you put a number on waste, it’s easier to be aware of it.
Have students separate waste and learn about food accumulation or… Supervised self-service application In the cafeterias, let the students do it Let them put the amount of food on the plate themselvesr they think they will eat.
Long term problem
In Catalonia, it entered into force in 2020 Food loss and waste prevention law To prevent food surplus from turning into waste. Two years later, the General Government instituted one The plan is directed directly at schools To avoid waste In canteens with a guide suggesting specific procedures and available in all centres.
Food waste is a problem of enormous proportions on a global scale. every year, More than 1.3 billion tons of food are wasted In good condition all over the planet, according to United Nations data. This number represents about a third of the world’s food production.
In the European Union, 89 million tons are wastedIn Spain, eight million. It is the seventh European country that wastes the most food.
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