Friends of Europe - Europe steps up the fight against food waste

by Selina Juul, Founder of Stop Wasting Food movement Denmark

published on Friends of Europe on September 26th 2025 -

https://www.friendsofeurope.org/insights/critical-thinking-europe-steps-up-the-fight-against-food-waste/

In 2025, the world is in chaos. Climate change is escalating, wars and conflicts are shaking our planet – and war criminal Vladimir Putin and former reality star Donald Trump are contributing to global instability. Some might argue we are living in the end times.

From July 2024 to July 2025, food prices in Denmark rose by 6.5%, according to figures from Statistics Denmark. Looking back over the past four years, they have increased by 31 %, which is far more than general inflation. The picture is the same in the rest of Europe. In a time of increasing food prices, wasting food is increasingly expensive. Yet, ironically, almost 60mn tonnes of food are wasted every year in the EU – that is 132 kg per person. Globally, food loss and waste results in more than US$ 1 tn in economic losses.

A silver lining: the EU takes action on food waste

Among all the bad news, there is also some positive development. On 9 September 2025, the European Parliament adopted new EU targets to reduce food waste. The updated legislation will introduce binding food waste reduction targets, to be met at the national level by 31 December 2030: 10% reduction in food processing and manufacturing, and a 30% per capita reduction in retail, restaurants, food services and households. These targets will be calculated in comparison to the amount generated as an annual average between 2021 and 2023. Following the Parliament’s request, EU countries will have to take measures to ensure that economic operators having a significant role in the prevention and generation of food waste – which will have to be identified in each country – facilitate the donation of unsold food that is safe for human consumption.

As an active member of the EU Platform on Food Losses and Food Waste for the past nine years, I welcome this latest development from the EU. Already in 2010, the Stop Wasting Food movement (Stop Spild Af Mad), together with several European organisations and stakeholders, signed the Joint Declaration Against Food Waste – a European declaration that aimed to cut global food waste by at least 50% by 2025. It was precisely this collaboration that paved the way for the European Commission’s own resolution on targets for less food waste in 2012. It later inspired the UN Sustainable Development Goals, which were adopted in 2015 in New York – specifically, target 12.3, which calls for halving global food losses and waste by 2030.

By adopting binding food waste reduction targets, Europe is not only stepping up domestically, but also sending a powerful signal to the rest of the world that ambitious, systemic action is both possible and necessary.

Some new policy recommendations for EU member states to reduce food losses and waste include:

• Harness artificial intelligence (AI). AI is gaining ground in the food industry. We can already see this today, for example, airline company KLM has reduced its food waste by 63% by using AI, Danish food wholesaler Dagrofa Foodservice reduced waste by 112 tons, and IKEA has already more than halved its food waste, saving over 20 mn meals in four years. A new AI-powered solution, developed by Zest, is being tested by companies such as Nestlé in the UK to reduce food waste. The tool monitors and tracks wasted ingredients and products in real time and has reduced edible food waste by 87% in one of Nestlé’s factories in just a two-week trial. AI has the potential to be a real game-changer in the fight against food waste.

• Ensure continuous governmental financial support for the fight against food losses and food waste. If the fight against food waste is primarily dependent on the volunteers and well-intentioned European citizens, it risks dying out completely, especially in the turbulent times we find ourselves in. Governments should provide continuous financial support to support stakeholders, especially NGO’s and charities, in the fight against food waste.

Progress is still slow

The World Resources Institute’s Champions 12.3 2025 Progress Report: ”SDG Target 12.3 on Food Loss and Waste” shows mixed results – as progress remains slow. With only five years until 2030, the world is not on track to achieve SDG 12.3. Global reductions in food loss and waste have yet to accelerate sufficiently to achieve this ambitious target – whether by companies or countries.

However, there are bright spots. Japan has become the first country in the wold to cut food loss and waste in half compared to its base year and has now expanded its ambition to achieve even deeper reductions by 2030. Several other countries have strategies in place to fight food losses and food waste.

Company-level reductions in food loss and waste are also promising. Ingka Group (IKEA), Ajinomoto and Carrefour have already halved their food loss and waste. In September 2025, the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) released ISO/DIS 20001, a draft of standardized procedures for minimising food loss and waste across the food supply chain. These standards are meant to apply to all organisations (e.g., food producers, food processors and manufacturers, wholesalers, retailers, restaurants and food-related charities) within the food supply chain – and I have also contributed to this work.

Having worked on food waste for the last 17 years, I believe preventing wasted food must be a global priority. We need to shift toward a narrative that values the food we produce, ensures that people are fed and preserves the planet for generations to come.

Marking the International Day of Awareness of Food Loss and Waste, let’s recognize the progress made and the work still ahead.

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www.stopspildafmad.org

www.stopwastingfoodmovement.org

Friends of Europe - The fight against food waste has no expiry date

by Selina Juul, Founder of Stop Wasting Food movement Denmark

published on Friends of Europe on September 25th 2024 -
https://www.friendsofeurope.org/insights/critical-thinking-the-fight-against-food-waste-has-no-expiry-date/

Sixteen years later, the fight against food waste no longer makes big headlines in the media. There are fewer TV features and press clips about food waste nationally, internationally and in Europe – and there is also less focus on food waste on the social media. But just because the media’s focus on food waste is declining, the problem doesn’t disappear.

Fortunately, many national, European and international stakeholders and companies are already meeting the EU’s and UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and have already achieved to cut their food waste in half. The results of the Stop Wasting Food movement’s sixteen years of work can clearly be seen in retailers, food services, large food companies and households. Recently, Her Royal Highness Princess Marie of Denmark has become a Patron of the Stop Wasting Food movement (Stop Spild Af Mad) organisation. Thus, the fight against food waste has no expiry date.

Set national targets to reduce food losses and food waste

Earlier this year, the European Parliament adopted its wishes for new targets for all member states: targets for reduction of food waste of 20% in production and processing and 40% in retail, food service and households by 2030. It is happening as part of a review of the EU’s Waste Framework Directive, which was last updated in 2018. These targets are a renewal of the decision taken by the European Parliament in 2017, which called on the European Commission to introduce a legally binding target for all member states to halve food waste by 2030, covering the entire supply chain. The European Parliament is expected to revise and finally adopt these objectives later in 2024.

Other policy recommendations for the EU member states on less food losses and food waste include:

• Introducing a standardized method to measure food losses and food waste waste. Many EU food losses and food waste data today cannot be compared due to the different methods of measure. Therefore, it would be good to develop a standardized method for measuring food losses and food waste, so the development can be compared the development from measurement to measurement.

• Providing continued financial support for the fight against food losses and food waste. Set up National Funds for the Prevention and Reduction of Food Waste to provide ongoing support to the fight against food waste widely from farm to fork: from research to campaigns to voluntary food waste organisations. If the fight against food waste is primarily dependent on volunteers and well-intentioned European citizens, it risks dying out completely.

• Making wasting food socially unacceptable. In the current climate, where people in Ukraine lack food due to Russia’s brutal invasion, and children in Gaza starve as is the case in many other places in the world, there is no room for promoting gluttony. It is time to consider making wasting food socially unacceptable. By writing this I don’t mean that we should all force ourselves to eat much more than we actually need – or become a ’food waste police’. What I mean is that we should cherish the food and treat it with the utmost respect, since so many children and adults in Europe and in the rest of the world don’t have enough to eat.

As an active member of the EU Platform on Food Losses and Food Waste for the last eight years, I applaud this new development. Since 2010, the Stop Wasting Food movement together with several European organisations and stakeholders signed the Joint Declaration Against Food Waste – a European declaration that aimed to reduce global food waste by at least 50% by 2025. It was precisely this collaboration that led to the European Commission’s own resolution on targets for less food waste in 2012. This later inspired the UN SDGs, which were adopted in 2015 in New York – and specifically, target 12.3 means that the world must halve the world’s food losses and food waste by the year 2030.

When both the EU and the UN already have reduction targets for less food losses and food waste, it could be one of the good policy recommendations, because what can be measured, can be managed. Since there is already a build-up of pressure from the EU and the UN, the EU member states’ governments should consider setting their own national targets to reduce food losses and food waste.

Food waste is a man-made problem

Food waste is in fact a man-made problem because there is actually no food waste in nature – as all food in nature is part of nature’s cycle. So, if you leave some of the apples hanging on your apple tree in the garden, it will provide nourishment for the birds, insects and other animals in the garden. Food wasted in nature is not wasted in the same way food is wasted in retail.

It is important to remember that climate-friendly food is only climate-friendly if it gets eaten. Regardless of whether we eat vegetarian, vegan, pesco-vegetarian or carnivorous, it is important that we strive and ensure that all the food we buy and prepare is eaten. For example, we must also remember to look, smell and taste the food when it is about to expire, because there is actually a life after the ’best before’ date – it does not mean ’toxic after’.

The fight against food waste cannot be fixed with one miracle solution because the fight against food waste must be won together with contributions from the entire value chain from farm to fork. By preventing and reducing food waste, we save both our time and our money and we also help the climate.

Bon appetit and have a very happy International Day of Awareness of Food Loss and Waste on 29th of September!

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www.stopspildafmad.org

www.stopwastingfoodmovement.org

Friends of Europe - From farm to fork, let’s unite against food waste

by Selina Juul, Founder of Stop Wasting Food movement Denmark

published on Friends of Europe on September 28th 2023 -
https://www.friendsofeurope.org/insights/critical-thinking-from-farm-to-fork-lets-unite-against-food-waste/

The world celebrates its annual United Nations International Day of Awareness of Food Loss and Waste on 29 September. And yet, we need to remember that the fight against food waste must be fought every day – and not only one day a year.

Should food waste reduction efforts focus on food production or consumption? And what about prevention efforts? Who is responsible for minimizing food losses and food waste? Why is it so important to prevent and reduce waste?

Let’s serve some facts. Food waste perpetuates ethical, economic and environmental issues. By limiting food waste, we can alleviate four problems at once.

First, it is ethically irresponsible to waste food, given that so many people worldwide are food insecure. According to the UN, around 8.9% of the world’s population – approximately 690 mn people – go to bed on an empty stomach. If current trends continue at pace, this figure will exceed 840 mn people by the year 2030.

Second, food waste is money in the trash. According to Eurostat, in the EU alone, nearly 59 mn tonnes of food waste are generated annually – which amounts to 131kg per inhabitant – with an associated market value estimated at €132 bn. On the global scale, according to the UN, global food losses and waste and waste are estimated at US $750 bn annually.

Third, food waste has a significant carbon footprint. Food waste accounts for an estimated 16% of the EU food system’s total greenhouse gas emissions. Globally, according to the UN, food losses and food waste are responsible for 8% to 10% of the world’s total annual greenhouse gas emissions. To put this into perspective: if food waste represented its own country, it would be the world’s third-largest greenhouse gas emitter, behind only China and the United States.

Finally, food waste drains resources – including water, land, energy, transportation and labour – from farm to table, contributing to unnecessary greenhouse gas emissions, and thereby global warming and climate change. According to the UN, three main socio-economic factors are driving the increasing demand for food: population growth, increasing urbanization and rising incomes. By 2050, the world’s population will reach at least nine billion, with more than 70% expected to live in urban areas, and global food production will need to increase by 70% to meet need. The future of agriculture and the ability to ensure food security for the world’s growing population is closely linked to better management of natural resources. In this regard, the reduction of food waste and efficient utilization of produced food must be key priorities.

A recent Gallup survey, conducted by Kantar Public for the Stop Wasting Food movement (Stop Spild Af Mad) in relation to the movement’s 15th anniversary, revealed that 94% of the Danes – almost the entire Danish population – feel that there is more focus on food waste in Denmark today than 15 years ago.

Today, compared to 15 years ago, almost the entire Danish food value chain from farm to fork is involved in the fight against food waste. From REMA 1000 retail chain’s end of the bulk discounts to selling ‘wonky’ vegetables, the fight against food waste is mostly everywhere in Denmark.

Further action must be taken at scale. In July 2023, the European Commission proposed a legally binding target to reduce food waste by 30% by 2030 across the entire EU. This is indeed an exciting new step.

How can policies on food production and consumption complement one another to address food waste across the entire food value chain? There is no one-size-fits-all solution. Food waste must be tackled in several ways through innovation, technology, legislation and financing. The entire food value chain – from farm to fork, including consumers – holds responsibility for reducing and preventing food losses and food waste. The bottom line is that we need to unite against food waste – every day of every year – by making the act of wasting food socially unacceptable.

_____________________________

www.stopspildafmad.org

www.stopwastingfoodmovement.org

The Huffington Post - Creating New Green Growth By Dodging The Landfill

by Selina Juul, Founder of Stop Wasting Food movement Denmark and Flemming Besenbacher, Chairman of Carlsberg A /S, The Carlsberg Foundation and The Tuborg Foundation

published on The Huffington Post on September 29th 2017 -
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/creating-new-green-growth-by-dodging-the-landfill_us_59ce601ae4b0f3c468060e08

This article is co-written with Flemming Besenbacher, Chairman of Carlsberg A /S, The Carlsberg Foundation and The Tuborg Foundation.

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If Carlsberg is known as probably the best beer in the world, Denmark strives to be known as probably one of the greenest countries in the world.

Reduce. Reuse. Recycle. Rethink. Those concepts are not new. In fact, they exist in nature. If we look at nature, we see no waste. Everything in nature is reused and recycled, right down to every tiny bone and every small leaf. Waste is a man-made invention - and in the world with a growing human population and increasing resource scarcity, nature can inspire humans to a more circular thinking. And it is about time.

Goodbye to landfill
Want to ensure your company’s future? Drop the linear thinking. In a world of endless resources, thinking linearly is probably the shortest path to bottom line growth, creation of jobs and improved living standards. It has served us well to think linearly. Economically, it still does. However, business as usual and linear thinking is not a long-term solution.

In the first decade of the 21st century, the human population produced more economic output than in the first nineteen centuries of that era combined. Nature continues to be a generous supporter of our economic output, but it takes nature over a year and a half to restore the resources that the world’s population consumes in just a single year. And in the light of increasing population growth and escalating climate change, thinking linearly is no longer sustainable. It is time to say goodbye to landfill – and to introduce long-term solutions.

The price of resources is destined to rise in the upcoming years and the era of continued economic output will add to the end of human civilization, unless we reconsider the way we consume our resources.

If we keep producing the goods to feed our landfills, we will be cutting the very branch of the tree we are sitting on.

Circular economy
Seen from a company’s perspective, humanity can avoid the imminent dark future by employing circular economy.

The ideas behind circular economy are not new and cannot be traced back to one single date or author. The ideas have existed for a long time, for instance in a 1976 research report to the European Commission named “The Potential for Substituting Manpower for Energy”, which sketched the vision of an economy in loops. Still, it was not until the Ellen MacArthur Foundation commissioned “Towards the Circular Economy: Economic and business rationale for an accelerated transition” in January 2012 that the world really began to take notice of the economic and business opportunities of the restorative, circular model.

The linear “take, make, dispose” economic model relies on large quantities of cheap, easily accessible materials and energy and is reaching its physical limits. The circular economy is an attractive and viable alternative that businesses are already exploring today under the principles “reduce, reuse, recycle and rethink.”

A circular economy is one that is restorative and regenerative by design and aims to keep products, components, and materials at their highest utility and value at all times, while distinguishing between technical and biological cycles.

This new economic model seeks to ultimately decouple global economic development from consumption of finite resources. It enables key policy objectives such as generating economic growth, creating jobs and reducing environmental impacts, including carbon emissions.

Cutting the waste and increasing the bottom line
Many SMEs are already applying circular economic models. Food producers such as Snact and Misfit Juicery use “ugly” surplus fruits and vegetables, which would otherwise have been wasted, as raw materials for their innovative food products. Household appliance producers such as Grundig is reusing PET plastic to make new components for their washing machines.

Several supermarket chains use the A.I. particle physics technology originally developed for CERN Large Hadron Collider to create a better forecast and more accurate stock predictions, dramatically reducing food waste (up to 30%), while attracting new customers by ensuring that the items people want are always in stock at the right price and the right time.

These above-mentioned circular economy examples are not hippie romantics and flower power – but LEAN and big business. Going green is the new way to increase your company’s bottom line, and the green circular economy race has just begun.

Denmark leading the way
Back in 1992, Terry L. Anderson and Donald R. Leal argued in “Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policy” that to solve environmental problems, we must recognize that human behavior is much influenced by incentives and low information costs. While business and industry for years have been offended by the tax and regulatory systems of government solutions to environmental problems, the opportunities in a circular economy have a sound underlying profitability, which makes the shift towards the circular economy attractable to everyone.

In Denmark, businesses are driving the shift towards circular economy and recently their efforts were reinforced by the current government, as an Advisory Board for Circular Economy with 12 independent members were established. The aim has been to set a vision for Denmark’s transformation towards a circular economy. The result was five objectives, four overall benchmarks and 27 recommendations for concrete efforts that can strengthen the Danish transformation process.

The first benchmark focuses on turning circular thinking into an integral part of any company’s core business and of the population’s behavior. One tool to do so is for the government to establish a national forum that can bring together industry, government, and universities to drive the transformation process, which in the case of Denmark could be named “Circular Denmark”.

As the Danish business sector consists largely of SMEs - 99% of all enterprises have less than 100 employees - the task force must primarily demonstrate the commercial potential of circular economy to the SMEs and maybe more importantly, assist businesses in the practical implementation of circular business models.

Following the second benchmark, companies must reconsider their design, production, and business models so they can produce quality products that last longer and are easily recycled. The Danish Deposit System for beverage containers is an example of a solution that helps turn waste into new products and materials. Danes excel at returning their empty beer bottles and cans, as more than 90 of bottles and cans are retuned through the system.

The third benchmark urges us to change the way we buy and instead use circular principles. To accelerate the transition in Denmark, the public sector, which accounts for around 25% of production, must be at the forefront. Hence, public procurement and construction works should be based on total life-cycle costs instead of simply purchasing price.

Finally, it is recommended in the report to establish more well-functioning markets for waste and recycling. Denmark has come a long way since the Stop Wasting Food movement was initiated, and in just a few years, Denmark has become one of the leading European countries in the fight against food waste. But to excel in raw material recycling, better regulation and declarations that support recycled waste and raw materials are critical. Increased and better recycling can improve the supply security of raw materials for new production and increase competitiveness, as it reduces spending on raw material procurement and waste management.

Probably the greenest beer in the world
Large companies such as the Carlsberg Group are already adopting circular thinking. Carlsberg’s sustainability ambitions, Together Towards ZERO, are to reach ZERO carbon emissions and ZERO water waste at its breweries by 2030. Among the concrete 2022 targets are a 50% reduction in carbon emissions at its breweries as well as 100% electricity coming from renewable sources.

During the recent New York Climate Week and 72nd Session of the UN General Assembly, the Carlsberg Foundation announced that it has placed 80 million USD in climate-friendly investments such as research in reduction of carbon emissions, research in water protection and research in sustainable food production.

Thinking circular while thinking business is no longer a “nice-to-have” feature – it is a “need to have”. All countries will be forced to undergo this transformation. Policymakers can play an important role, as non-financial barriers often slow down or even prevent further up-scaling. If we manage to overcome barriers and create the right enabling conditions for a transition towards a circular economy and there is willingness to reconsider the way we design, produce, work, and consume we can create new opportunities, new jobs, and economic growth.

The countries which first manage to build the right framework and invest in circular economy will gain a competitive edge and open the gate to new markets based on new solutions and expertise.

For Denmark, circular economy is one of the keys in securing continued growth and high prosperity. The goal is for Denmark to be a society in which materials and products are recycled or reused to an extent where waste no longer exists in 2050. The Danish model can inspire the rest of world, and Denmark will benefit immensely from sharing this knowledge.

We need to recognize the limits of Mother Nature. It is time for action and a reconsideration of our business models and welfare societies based on the following formula: Reduce. Reuse. Recycle. Rethink. Circular solutions and technologies must replace landfill and incineration.

The Huffington Post - Disrupt The Food Chain - And Stop Food Waste

by Selina Juul, Founder of Stop Wasting Food movement Denmark and Michiel Kernkamp, CEO of Nestlé Nordic

published on The Huffington Post on August 16th 2017 -
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/disrupt-the-food-chain-and-stop-food-waste_us_59949d38e4b00dd984e37bd0

This article is co-written with Michiel Kernkamp, CEO of Nestlé Nordic.

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Want to make a positive change in the world? Stop wasting food. It’s that simple!

A wonky carrot in the back of your fridge or a banana with few brown spots are perfectly edible and are aimed to end up in your belly - not your trash bin. If you start saving the food, you will end up saving the world.

According to the EU, around 88 million tonnes of food are wasted annually in the EU, with associated costs estimated at 143 billion Euros. According to the UN, the food currently wasted in Europe could feed 200 million people. The food currently lost or wasted in Latin America could feed 300 million people. And the food currently lost in Africa could feed 300 million people. And globally, food losses and waste are enough to feed 3 billion people – in a world where every ninth child, woman and man are starving. Not to forget the fact that if food loss and waste were its own country, it would be the world’s third-largest greenhouse gas emitter.

Growing global focus on food waste
At the United Nations’ SAVE FOOD World Congress in Düsseldorf, where Selina Juul recently spoke, the escalating fight against food waste was on top of the agenda. At the first SAVE FOOD World Congress back in 2011 in Düsseldorf, comparing to today, a huge development has been made. Literally hundreds of food waste prevention and reducing initiatives have been born, and the entire food value chain has been activated.

At the “A Great Day for Food Innovation” summit at the Danish Food Cluster, where Michiel Kernkamp spoke recently, the fight against food waste was also on top of the agenda, and many food companies are making good progress. Recently, IKEA announced aim to halve food waste at its restaurants by mid-2020, and the upcoming Minister for Environment and Food of Denmark Mr. Esben Lunde Larsen’s World Food Summit “Better Food for More People” in Copenhagen has food waste on top of the agenda. From EU to UN to big corporations - the fight against food waste is on. And it’s about time!

As the European Commissioner for Health and Food Safety Mr. Vytenis Andriukaitis, who also spoke at the SAVE FOOD World Congress, emphasized, we are in a great hurry to start reducing food losses and waste, not at least to achieve the targets of UN Sustainable Development Goal 12.3, which calls for the halving of food losses and waste by 2030. Recently, Selina Juul has become a member og global Champions 12.3 - a global group of high-level experts and CEO’s to promote the UN Sustainable Development Goal 12.3. She joins high level global NGO, industry and government - among them Minister for Environment and Food of Denmark Mr. Esben Lunde Larsen and Chairman of Nestlé Paul Bulcke.

United against food waste
There is not a One Miracle Solution to end food loss and waste. We must be united against food waste, only all parties in the food supply chain can make a positive and lasting impact. It is only through an end-to-end “farm to fork” approach that we can achieve our targets - and often a local action can create a global impact.

At the agricultural stages, the main focus should be on preventing the food losses, to prevent the food getting lost during the farming and productions stages. Companies like Nestlé aim to improve quality of life and contribute to a healthier future and reduce food waste - with preservation and better utilization at the origin of the creation of the food industry - is clearly core to this aim.

Through agricultural initiatives like the ‘Nescafé plan’ and the ‘Nestlé cocoa plan’ for example the company aims to help farmers better utilize their land, increase yields, reduce water and chemical usage and improve farmers’ livelihoods. It has similar initiatives in place with other agricultural partners like dairy farmers.

Last year the first global Food Loss and Waste Accounting Standard was introduced. Nestlé and Selina Juul participated in that work together with Consumer Goods Forum (CGF), the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), EU Food Use for Social Innovation by Optimizing Waste Prevention Strategies (FUSIONS), the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD), the Waste & Resources Action Programme (WRAP) and World Resources Institute (WRI).

The standard aims to quantify food waste based on the thinking that “what can be measured, can be managed”. At the same time Nestlé has committed to achieve Zero waste to landfill in its manufacturing operations by 2020 and they have recently announced their ambition to have zero environmental impact from their global manufacturing operations by 2030. By improving forecasting accuracy and planning process they actively increase the efficient utilization of food. It is good and important to donate the surplus food to the charities - but it’s event more important to work on preventing the overproduction of food to begin with.

Through the Nestlé Portion Guidance initiative, Nestlé helps consumers make the right decisions in order to eat the right amounts. This is good for combatting food waste but is of course also the right healthy option. All in an effort to contribute to eliminating food waste - and to prevent overeating, since the food waste and obesity are large problemt around the world.

Why don’t we disrupt the food chain – and reverse it?
In the Western society, where we, the consumers, contribute to a large share of the food wasted, we have the largest potential to stop wasting food. Minimizing your food waste is a low hanging fruit to make a positive impact – not only on the environment and by that improving our food system but also on your personal economy and time. Fighting food waste is a very low hanging fruit and there are a lot of actions you can take on a personal level to make a global impact.

But before we provide you with a catalogue of ideas in the food chain, please have a look at it this way: What if we ‘disrupted’ the whole food chain – and made it totally reverse? Imagine... as John Lennon wanted us to do.

If we were able to reverse the food chain and have the perfect data, so we can eat what we cook, cook what we store, store what we buy, buy what we produce and produce what we harvest. Food waste will soon will be a thing of the past.

Unfortunately, data imperfection between the different elements of the value chain currently prevent an optimal consumer triggered supply chain. New developments like connected fridges, portioned meal boxes, recipe data bases triggering portioned food purchase or E-tailers tracking your consumption patterns will help a more accurate consumer data driven food supply chain thus helping to eliminate the waste, which results from each party in the food supply chain trying to predict what the other party is going to produce, buy, store or cook.

Utilizing new technology will therefore help preventing the waste from occurring in the first place.

So, what can you actually do to stop wasting food? Here, we present a couple of good advices...

What can you do in the supermarket:

Planning is a good weapon in the fight against food waste. Before you go grocery shopping, make sure to make a meal plan, a shopping list or even easier: Take your smartphone and take a picture of the content of your fridge. You will have an easy reminder of what you already have and what you will need to buy.

Never buy on an empty stomach – snap a banana or a biscuit before going grocery shopping. If you go grocery shopping on an empty stomach, you will risk buying more food than you actually need.

Control your inner hamster, while grocery shopping. Be in control of the bulk discounts, instead of letting the bulk discounts controlling you.

Choose smaller size of shopping carts and shopping baskets – a large shopping cart or a shopping basket will automatically make you buy more food than you actually need. If you want to buy just the amount of food you need, choose a smaller shopping cart or a smaller shopping basket. Remember to carry your shopping basket in your hand, instead of pulling it behind you on wheels. When you carry the shopping basket in your hand, you will have better control of the amount of food that you buy, because the shopping basket gets heavier and heavier.

Buy the food close to its expiration date – it’s often much cheaper. You will also help the supermarkets to reduce their food waste.

Use bulk discounts with caution – use the bulk discounts only if you are sure that you are going to use all the food, otherwise, it will be your money down the drain.

Ugly and wonky taste just the same – buy ugly and wonky fruits and vegetables. Just because the cucumber is bendy, it tastes just the same as a straight one. And remember to buy single bananas – the single bananas need more love.

Buy food for several days and have a good plan to use the leftovers. Plan for leftovers while buying the food. For example, yesterday’s leftover salmon can turn into today’s salmon salad.

Keep your food fresh – make sure to get home quickly after buying your groceries. Keep the food in cooling bags and don’t let your groceries sweat in a warm car for hours.

What can you do at home in your kitchen:

Use the food that you already have in your refrigerator, your kitchen cupboards and in your freezer. Less food waste means that you will save your money, you will save your time – and at the same time you will save the planet and value the work done by the farmers spending their valuable time and efforts producing your food.

Have a flow in your fridge, your freezer and your kitchen cupboards, so the older foods are placed at the front – and preferably at your eye level, so you are constantly reminded to use up that food first.

Have a central place to store your leftovers and use your leftovers in new meals, no matter if it is a weekday, weekend or a holiday like Christmas/Easter/Thanksgiving/Hanukkah/Eid/etc. Store your leftovers in a central place in your refrigerator, so you always remember to use them.

Leftovers is free bonus food – create a new attitude towards your leftovers. When you use your leftovers, you save a trip to the supermarket, you save your time and you save your money. A leftover chicken can be used in an omelet. A leftover cream can be frozen and used in soups or stews.

Have Empty Your Fridge Days to use up all your leftovers. Sunday is usually a good day to cook meals with leftovers. Once every month, have an Empty Your Freezer Day too. Also, be sure to have the Empty Your Fridge/Freezer Days before holidays like Christmas/Easter/Thanksgiving/Hanukkah/Eid/etc. to make new room for all the good leftovers.

Make sure that your meal with leftovers look aesthetically pleasing – just because it’s leftovers, it does not mean that your plate should look like trash. The meal should always look inviting.

Your refrigerator is not your garbage bin – make sure that no old leftovers are left to die in the back of your fridge. Remember not to overstuff your fridge. If you overstuff your fridge, it will be more difficult for the cold air to circulate in the fridge – and thus keeping the food fresh. Keep good hygiene and regularly clean your fridge and your freezer.

Stop producing the UFO’s – yes, the Unidentified Frozen Objects in your freezer. UFO’s are all the good leftovers that you freeze and then forget all about them for a year or two. After a year or two, you usually throw them out. Your time, your money, good food and your electricity bills all for nothing. Prevent UFOs by freezing the leftovers in smaller portions, and always have a system to note what you have frozen and when. And remember to use the food in your freezer, so your freezer won’t become the last stop before the garbage bin.

Learn to store the food properly – apples, pears, bananas and oranges should not be in contact with each other, otherwise they will ripen faster. Tomatoes, avocados, potatoes, bananas and citrus fruits must be stored outside the refrigerator. Use packaging only suitable for food.

Learn about the date labeling – the “Use By” label is used on fresh meat, fresh fish, fresh chicken, etc. It’s not advisable to eat the food after the expiration of “Use By” date. Meanwhile, the “Best Before” label is used on pasta, rice, cookies, chocolate, corn flakes, etc. You can eat the food after the expiration of “Best Before” date. In other words, “Best Before” doesn’t mean “Toxic After”.

Do not cook for 11 people if you are 8 people for dinner – many people constantly tend to cook and serve too much food. A good idea is to cook 30% less food and to calculate portion sizes before making the food.

Use smaller size of plates and dishes – for the past 20 years, the sizes of plates have grown all over the world. By using a smaller size plates and dishes on the dinner table, you will make sure that you will waste less food. The bigger the plate is, the more you are tempted to fill it up with food. A smaller size of plate also prevents overeating.

More is not always better – focus on quality of food, rather than quantity. When you buy food of better quality, you will also tend to waste less. It is much easier to waste cheap junk food than more expensive organic food.

The food should not sweat on the dinner table for many hours – no need to put all the food on the dinner table at once. Serve gradually to keep the food fresh.

Do not mix things when saving your leftovers – many dishes are better if not mixed up, so they can be stored better. Store vegetables and meats separately for optimal reuse.

Save your food – most of your surplus food and the leftovers can be frozen. Leftovers of many dishes can be frozen. Bread can be sliced up and frozen. Even cream, herbs, vegetables, fruits, hard cheese can be frozen as well. But remember to keep track of your frozen leftovers, and remember to use them. Also, freeze in smaller portions for better convenience and optimal reuse.

Have a great number of food storage containers to store your leftovers. A good advice is also to have a roll of fridge and freezer bags located directly in your refrigerator. This will automatically remind you to use them and save your food.

Don’t eat moldy food – if there is mold on one side of the bread, the entire bread has to go. Yet, some moldy foods can be eaten while cutting off the mold, such as hard cheese or carrots.

Keep a Food Waste Diary during holidays like Christmas/Easter/Thanksgiving/Hanukkah/Eid/etc. to track how much food you throw out and why. That way you will learn to do better and better next time the holidays are approaching.

Share your surplus food with your neighbor if you have cooked too much food. After a big dinner, give homemade doggy bags to your guests. If you have fruit trees in your garden, but no time to pick the fruits, use social media to engage your friends to come and help you to pick the fruits. Bonus: You will get happier friends and neighbors.

Regrow your food – you can regrow celery, garlic, spring onions, cabbage, salad, herbs, fennel, coriander, carrots, leeks and much more – right in your own home. Join the regrow trend and grow your own free food.

What can you do while on the go, in a café, restaurant or in the canteen:

If you book a table at a restaurant, tell them what you intend to eat. This will improve the restaurant’s purchasing accuracy and this significantly reduces food waste. Ask your favorite restaurant booking app to make this a permanent feature of your next restaurant booking. Imagine being a vegetarian and not being able to tell the restaurant not to buy meat for you.

Buffet is a food waste trap – order portion servings (a la carte) instead of a buffet.

Take all you can eat, but eat all you take – if buffet is the only option, it’s a good idea to start with small tastings. The first time you go to the buffet, remember to take small samples on your plate, so the next time you go to the buffet, you know which dishes you prefer to eat.

Use small plates at the buffet and remember to put a bit less on your plate. You are welcome to visit the buffet several times. A plate of smaller size also prevents you from the danger of over-eating.

Ask the waiter about the size of the portion before you get portion servings (a la carte). If you are unsure whether or not you can eat the whole plate, consult with the waiter about the size of the portion serving.

Order two starters instead of a starter and a main course if you are not sure about your appetite. If you are still hungry, you can always order some more.

Ask for a doggy bag if you are unable to finish your food. You have paid for your food, it is your right to take it home – and to reduce food waste.

What can you do to rescue the food:

Become a Food Hero and help donating the good surplus food to food insecure people. Encourage your local supermarket, bakery, food producer, farmer and such to donate their good surplus food to charities.

It starts with you
If you try to follow these simples life hacks, you’ll start saving the food - and end up saving the world.

Stopping your food waste will give you more spare time, improve your personal economy and at the same time make the world a greener place, value the efforts of everyone, who has contributed their time and passion to produce your delicious food.

At the same time you will help feeding more people in the world with our current resources while helping the battle against deforestation, water usage, CO2 emissions - and the list goes on.

We are all food wasters, we are all part of the problem. And fortunately, we are all part of the solution.

The Huffington Post - The Fight Against Food Waste Is Becoming Big Business

by Selina Juul, Founder of Stop Wasting Food movement Denmark 

published on The Huffington Post on February 14th 2017 -
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/selina-juul/the-fight-against-food-wa_b_14632156.html

Imagine if you can save the world by saving your time and saving your money. While reducing your carbon footprint while helping the food value chain to optimize itself - and even create new green growth. Too good to be true? Well, the fight against food waste nails it. And it’s becoming big business.

New food products made from surplus produce. Mobile apps which help you buy cheap surplus food from restaurant’s buffets. Supermarket offers on cheap food nearing its expiry date. And large marketing campaigns by the retailers and the industry to show off their work to stop wasting food. The fight against food waste is a hot topic - and it’s no longer reserved for the hippie activists.

We are in a great hurry. In just 13 years, the human population’s global food losses and food waste must be reduced by 50%. This deadline is made by the United Nations as a new UN Sustainable Development Goal 12.3. Fortunately - and despite of Donald Trump - the many green initiatives are growing stronger, in the USA and all across the world. In 2011, the UN FAO launched the global SAVE FOOD initiative - and today the fight against food waste has gained great momentum.

Recently, I was invited to participate in the European Commission’s new EU Platform on Food Losses and Food Waste, a 4 year long network and research project which will focus on helping the world to deliver that goal. On the Platform’s first meeting in Brussels, I addressed that it’s important to take a look at the entire value chain - and especially focus on the prevention.

Prevention versus symptomatic treatment
A food company donating a truckload of surplus cookies which passed its expiry date to a local refugee center creates many good headlines in the media. But if the very same food company creates better forecasting to prevent the overproduction of surplus food to begin with, the media is not interested. Why? Apparently, the symptomatic treatment of food waste is far more sexy than the prevention itself.

As the Minister for Environment and Food of Denmark Mr. Esben Lunde Larsen wrote in one of his opinion editorials: it’s good and important to donate surplus food to charities, but the best case scenario is to reduce the amounts of surplus food to begin with.

We need to take a look at the overproduction of food.

According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, one third of the world’s produced food is either lost or wasted. Imagine, theoretically, a possibility of massive global green growth, if we put that lost of wasted food into business.

From food waste to big business
Today, a lot of produce never leaves the farms, because the customers have no interest in buying an ugly tomato or a wonky looking cauliflower in the supermarket.

But if the farmer would have a chance to sell his “ugly” surplus produce to a food company, which produces “rescued vegetable soups” and doesn’t really care about the aesthetics of vegetables, it will not only prevent the loss of food, but also give the farmer a new source of income.

The “rescued food” companies are already starting to populate the European market. Although it’s not mainstream yet, new food brands such as like Snact, Misfit Juice, FoPo Food Powder, Rubies in the Rubble, Wonky, Kromkommer, Barstensvol, OverLekker and Spare Fruit are gaining popularity.

The “rescued food” products will also make it easy for the consumers to fight against food losses and waste. The only thing a consumer should do is to buy the product and eat it - every bit. And with the raising awareness on food waste, many food companies can even create a new branding out of it.

The stop wasting food trend is growing all over the world, lately with food waste supermarkets and food waste restaurants. The consumers are soon made ready to buy the “rescued food” products - and it will create a new growing mainstream market.

If we take a look at the food service and catering industry, a lot of “wonky” produce can be put into good use. When you eat your salad, it doesn’t really matter if the vegetables were perfect or odd looking to begin with - it’s all gets chopped and ends in a salad bowl. A local hospital can make a deal with a local farmer to buy the farmer’s “wonky” produce, probably at a reduced price. The farmer cam earn money on the produce which he previously tossed away, the hospital can make delicious meals to its patients and can brand itself by being a green hospital, which supports stop wasting food.

Nothing is rotten in the state of Denmark
In many media coverages all over the world, recently in National Geographic and BBC, Denmark’s has been crowned as the European leading country in the fight against food waste. Within 5 years, Denmark’s national food waste has been reduced by 25%. That’s quite something. That’s a good start.

Many Danish supermarkets are starting to sell good food, which is nearing its expiry date, at reduced prices. That means that supermarkets waste less food and earn money on the food, which otherwise could have been tossed in the bin - and customers can buy food at a reduced price and thus avoid food waste. Many Danish supermarkets brand themselves on these initiatives, labeling them “Save Food” or the “Stop Food Waste” bargains. This trend has become quite popular, and perhaps the international supermarkets should take a closer look at the model for Danish retail industry.

Today, restaurants, especially with buffets, can get the food waste apps such as the Danish Too Good To Go app, counting over one million Danish and international users, which makes it easy for the customers to buy a takeaway box from the restaurant’s buffet at a cheap price. Thus, the restaurant avoids food waste, the customer gets good, cheap restaurant food and the food waste is avoided. Another Danish app, YourLocal, concentrates on the surplus food from the supermarkets, and highlights the good local offers, helping the local supermarkets avoid food waste and earn money on the food, which otherwise would have been wasted. Both apps have recently received substantial financial funding counting several millions of DKK.

Reducing food waste helps food insecure families
Latest surveys show that Danes love the good cheap close-to-be-expired food, and thus our NGO Stop Wasting Food initiated the national SAVE & HELP campaign in collaboration with Danish People’s Aid and the Danish KIWI retail chain.

SAVE & HELP targets to reduce food waste and at the same time helps vulnerable and food insecure families in Denmark. SAVE & HELP campaign is in every KIWI supermarket in Denmark and contains stickers on good food items, which are nearing their expiration date. Every time a customer buys a product with SAVE & HELP sticker, KIWI Denmark donates 1 DKK to the Danish People’s Aid. It allows customers to fight food waste while helping vulnerable and food insecure families in Denmark. The SAVE & HELP campaign gives consumers a good and easy incentive to buy good food nearing its expiration date, while helping supermarkets to reduce food waste while helping the most vulnerable people in Danish society. It’s an easy, tangible and measurable way to make a difference in everyday life on several levels.

In the first month of campaign, the SAVE & HELP already generated 200,000 DKK (28,575 USD) to the Danish People’s Aid’s work - and the campaign is widely popular. Today, every retail chain in Denmark has more or less a food waste reduction strategy - and the fight against food waste has become the retailers’ competition parameter.

The unavoidable food waste
While we really must avoid and reduce food waste at every level, sometimes the food waste in unavoidable. Another annual initiative started by our NGO is the Christmas Surplus, which targets the supermarket’s Christmas surplus food, that they cannot sell after Christmas. Thus, the Stop Wasting Food, Danish People’s Aid and REMA 1000 Denmark retail chain teamed up and with the help of 500+ volunteers collected and delivered free surplus food worth of 4,000,000 DKK (571,505 USD) from 245 REMA 1000 supermarkets to 10,000 food insecure Danes. The charity event attracted a lot of Danish and international attention and the Charity Dinner in November last year hosted by the Minister for Environment and Food of Denmark Mr. Esben Lunde Larsen, Stop Wasting Food and Danish People’s Aid to support the Christmas Surplus was attended by His Royal Highness Prince Joachim of Denmark and Her Royal Highness Princess Marie of Denmark as well as 180 prominent guests. The Charity Dinner fundraised 180,000 DKK (25,717 USD) to help the food insecure families.

It is needless to say, that the focus of food waste has grown so big, that it won’t go away. But just because the industry, retailers, entrepreneurs, politicians, NGO’s and many others have started a global war on food waste, it doesn’t mean that we the consumers are off the hook. We are all in this together - we are all a part of this giant global problem.

And fortunately, we are all a part of the solution.

The Huffington Post - Do We Really Need A Food Waste Police?

by Selina Juul, Founder of Stop Wasting Food movement Denmark 

published on The Huffington Post on September 28th 2016 -
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/selina-juul/do-we-really-need-a-food-_b_12108406.html

Recently, the laws against food waste are starting to gain momentum. France and Italy have already implemented the laws against food waste. The governments in UK, Finland, Canada and Chile are already looking into it. And several large petitions are set off to influence the EU politicians in hope of implementing the laws agains food waste all across the EU.

But if we take a closer look into these laws, one might wonder: is the “Food Waste Police” the right approach in the fight against food waste?

Arash Derambarsh is a very sympathetic and enthusiastic French politician, whom I’ve had a privilege of speaking with in several panel debates at congresses and food summits, the recent one was an international food summit in Copenhagen “Better Food for More People” arranged by the Danish Ministry for the Environment and Food. Mr. Derambarsh is the “father” of the law against food waste, which was adopted in France. And he is going an excellent job in that field, I might add.

Due to this new French law, all larger supermarkets and hypermarkets in France are obliged to give all of their surplus food to the local charities - if not, they will be fined 75,000 Euro - or even face a jail sentence.

The new French law caused massive international media attention and thousands of cheerful remarks on the social media. The “big bad supermarkets” will at last be punished, the surplus food will be redirected to the needy and the problem with food waste will be solved once and for all.

Well, will it really?

In my recent joint opinion editorial co-written with the Minister for Environment and Food of Denmark Mr. Esben Lunde Larsen and Minister for Energy, Utilities and Climate of Denmark Mr. Lars Christian Lilleholt, we addressed the French law. During the last 8 years, Denmark has already made a tremendous progress in the fight against food waste - and the Danish Government, industry, retailers and NGO’s are not very keen on this French law.

The French law looks interesting, but when we zoom in, it dosen’t really solve the problem with food waste.

If a law like this will be implemented in a country like Denmark, the charities will literally drown in food. The supermarkets will be obliged to give the charities all their surplus food, in fear of fines or going to jail - and this will leave the charities stranded with huge amounts of surplus food and vey small resources to make sure that the food will be redirected to the needy citizens. Already today, these Danish charities have very limited funding, infrastructure and resources. By receiving some over 163,000 tones of supermarkets’ annual surplus food, they will have much difficulties with saving these huge amounts of food from going to waste.

Thus, the problem is only pushed further on down the value chain and the root cause - the overproduction of food - is not addressed.

This makes the law against food waste a short term solution.

By that I am not implying that we must stop helping the needy and socially disadvantaged citizens with access to free surplus food. We must do whatever we can. Since 2010, the Stop Wasting Food movement Denmark and partners rescued and redirected over 250 tons of free surplus food to charities in Denmark. Good free, surplus food ended in people’s bellies instead of going to waste.

If we take a look from the helicopter perspective, the fight against food waste today counts a large amount of symptom treatment initiatives, from food waste events to food waste supermarkets and food waste restaurants. All these initiatives are good, important and awareness raising. However, they do not address the root cause.

A lot of food waste must be generated in order to keep a food waste supermarket or a food waste restaurant operating. And thus, the overproduction is still there, every day, year by year - and the fight against food waste itself is becoming an industry.

But if we really need fulfill the UN Sustainable Development Goal 12.3 - to halve per capita all the food losses and waste by 2030 - (and that’s just in 14 years!) - we must take a look at the rood cause, we must address the prevention of food waste.

Implementing a law against food waste and thus pushing the food waste further down the value chain will never create a long lasting solution.

GreenOvation Magazine South Africa - Will Denmark Become a World Leader in The Fight Against Food Waste?

by Selina Juul, Founder of Stop Wasting Food movement Denmark 

published in GreenOvation Magazine South Africa on June 1st 2016 -
http://www.greenovationsa.co.za/our-mag/

If Carlsberg is known as probably the best beer in the world, then Denmark can soon be known as probably the world leading country in the fight against food waste. With national reduction in food waste by 25% within the last five years, a national movement against food waste, a food waste restaurant, a food waste supermarket, the government’s Partnership against Food Waste, giant focus on food waste in the media and new food waste reduction initiatives and startups popping up almost every month, Denmark can be proud of its great achievements in the fight against food waste.

Perhaps the France and soon Italy are the first countries in the world to introduce national laws against food waste, but they are definitely not the first countries in the fight against food waste.

A global shame
Denmark is a relatively small country populated by 5,7 million people - yet Denmark’s national food waste reaches up to 700.000 tons of good edible food per year. Largest part of the country’s food waste is generated by the households – and most of the food the Danes are throwing away is fruits, vegetables, bread, dairy products and leftovers from meals. This is by the way a very typical picture for the Western households.

While in the countries of Sub-Saharan Africa most of the food is lost during the farming, post-harvesting and processing stages, the tremendous amounts of food waste in the Western countries happen at the consumers’ homes. The new report from the Danish EPA in collaboration with the Danish government, to which I have been contributing, shows that most of the Danes’ food waste happens at homes, especially in the refrigerators, where people are forgetting to use up all the food. The food gets forgotten in the back of the fridge and gradually goes bad. Confusion about the date labeling and the lack of knowledge of using the leftovers are also quite common food waste traps.

The most recent numbers from the EU FUSIONS project, where I participate as one of the Partners, show that every year EU generates 88 million tons of food waste – estimated to roughly 143 billion Euros per year. If we look at the entire planet, the numbers from the UN FAO show that one third of the world’s food is either lost or wasted, making the food waste a global shame on the face of human civilization, especially when almost a billion humans on this planet are either starving or undernourished. In Denmark, the Danish People’s Aid estimates that at least 300,000 Danes are living below the poverty line, many of them are food insecure.

A national movement
Since the foundation of the Stop Wasting movement (Stop Spild Af Mad) eight years ago, the fight against food waste has become a national movement.

Denmark is a country, which takes pride in producing food. The respect for the produced food is growing among the Danes, who gradually start cooking to feed themselves and not their garbage bins.

Today, because of the fight against food waste trend and the consumer pressure, almost every retain chain in Denmark has a food waste prevention strategy. The REMA 1000 retail chain, with the inspiration from the Stop Wasting movement, replaced all their quantity discounts with single item discounts to minimize food waste. This method is now being replicated by the competing retail chains such as Coop, LIDL and many others. As the single population of Denmark is growing, more single friendly products are being launched on the market – meat and bread in smaller packages as well as butter and yoghurt. The CEO of the Danish Federation of Shopkeepers DSK Mr. John Wagner told in an interview that the fight against food waste is becoming a strong competitive parameter among the Danish supermarkets.

From food waste to big business
A buffet in a restaurant is a huge food waste trap, because the food cannot be reused afterwards due to the food safety issues. The new Danish startup Too Good To Go has solved that problem. With help from this app, you can visit your local restaurant near its closing time, fill up a box of food from the buffet and thus get a very cheap good meal. The restaurant wastes less food, makes more money and you get a good bargain. A win-win scenario, which not only reduces food waste, but helps the restaurant to earn money on the food, which otherwise would have been wasted.

Another example is the Danish food industry making big business on surplus food. The Irma supermarket chain has launched the Food Waste Chips made of surplus bread. The potato salad industry is starting to use the “ugly” potatoes in the potato salad production. And more and more Danish supermarkets have the “stop food waste areas”, where Danes can buy good food close to its expiration date at very cheap prices. Thus, people get good cheap food and at the same time help avoiding the food waste, while the supermarket gets extra income on the food, which otherwise could have been wasted.

Today, a large amount of Danish hospitals, canteens and restaurants have food waste reduction strategies, which save their businesses large amounts of money. According to Unilever Food Solutions, a medium sized canteen can save up to 90,000 Euro per year by reducing food waste. Many canteens use the money saved by the food waste reduction to buy organic food, boosting the organic agriculture. The REFOOD label highlights the cafés, restaurants and canteens that joined the fight against food waste, making it attractive to the sustainability-oriented customers.

Many waste companies focus on the recycling and waste sorting campaigns, such as the AVV Nulskrald in Jutland – and actually deliver impressive results. The household waste can actually cut in half, if the households start sorting their waste and recycle.

Several educational food waste campaigns for schools are launched. Universities focus on food waste prevention assignments for students. Projects such as the WeFood food waste supermarket and Rub & Stub food waste restaurant, despite of not addressing the problem at its roots, as they both requite a daily flow of food waste to keep operating, are brilliant initiatives. The growing amount of charity NGOs such as LOFU and PROJECT HOMELESS deliver good surplus food to homeless and socially disadvantaged citizens and hundreds of food bloggers create mouthwatering recipes to inspire their followers to join the fight against food waste.

And by these above mentioned initiatives, I am just scratching the surface.

Keeping the momentum
It is important to keep the momentum in the fight against food waste. According to Danish Agriculture & Food Council, Denmark’s national food waste has been reduced by 25% within the last five years. It’s a good start.

But what will happen, when the fight against food waste doesn’t make the headlines in the media anymore? What will happen, when the food business stakeholders, leaders and politicians move onto a new and trendier agenda? What will happen, when the fight against food waste turns into greenwashing?

The food waste will still be present, despite of the lack of its focus.

It’s important to focus on the prevention. Nationally and internationally, the food waste symptom treatment is making way more headlines than the prevention of the problem. Yet, the prevention is the most efficient and lasting way to dramatically decrease the mountains of food waste.

Focusing on the prevention and putting the food into good use before the food becomes wasted is the key to solving the global food waste scandal.