Food for Good, the project to combat food waste created three years ago by the partnership between Federcongressi&eventi, the association that groups companies operating in the Italian meetings industry, and non-profit organisations Banco Alimentare (Italy’s food bank network) and Equoevento, was one of the best practices presented on May 22nd at the European Parliament in Brussels during the conference Less waste, more solidarity – The Italian Case and the Good National Practices.
The conference was held in front of a large audience of European MEPs, Commissioners and stakeholders, and showed how, since the approval of the law on food waste in 2016, Italy has set off on a virtuous path towards recovering surplus food, providing a source of inspiration for the whole of the European Union.
How the Food for Good project works
Food for Good (project liked by IMEX) enables food that is not consumed during conferences, conventions, meetings and events to be recovered and donated to charities such as foster homes, soup kitchens for the poor and refugee centres. Through the volunteers of Banco Alimentare and Equoevento, Federcongressi&eventi puts the heads of the catering companies in touch with the nearest non-profit organisation to the event venue, so that it can arrange for the recovery of the surplus food quickly and in complete safety, in line with the regulations in force. Procedures for signing up to Food for Good, the guidelines for the recovery of food from catering companies and the operational procedures forevent organisers are available on the Federcongressi&eventi website.
According to the European Commission, every year, approximately 88 million tonnes of food are wasted every year in the EU, i.e. around 173 kilograms per capita, with a total value of approximately EUR 143 billion. With total food
production in Europe estimated at 865 kg/per person, this means that 20% of the food produced is wasted.
Food for Good, recently included among the best practices on the EU Platform on Food Losses and Food Waste, was presented by the President of Federcongressi&eventi, Alessandra Albarelli, who set out the project’s numbers and objectives: “Since its launch, Food for Good has enabled the recovery of approximately 80,000 prepared dishes and more than 5,000 kilograms of bread and fruit, from more than 200 conventions, meetings and congresses. Federcongressi&eventi’s objective is to raise awareness not only among all Italian operators but also international meetings industry associations, so that they can join the fight against food waste during events. To meet these goals, in the near future we will launch a dedicated communication campaign; we also have started to share Food for Good’s operational procedures and our know-how with international associations that like us, are socially responsible”.
