Project to turn Olympic food waste into meals for poor

The amount of food wasted around the world on a daily basis is huge. Food loss or wastage also has an environmental impact which cannot be ignored.

A Food and Agriculture Organization study has calculated that the global food waste would, if calculated as a country, become the world’s third-largest greenhouse gas emitter.

Down To Earth had earlier reported that worldwide food losses and waste amount to 30-40 per cent of total global food production.

At present, several initiatives are being planned to combat the trend of food wastage. One such initiative is the “Reffetto-Rio” project, an initiative presented in Rome recently.

As a result of this project, surplus food from the Olympic Village during the Olympic Games about to start in Rio de Janeiro on August 5 would be recovered and turned into meals for the poor.

The initiative was conceived by Massimo Bottura, an internationally-renowned chef and founder of “Food for Soul”, a non-profit organisation, along with David Hertz, a chief and founder of “Gastromotiva”, another non-profit.

The project can benefit from the significant experience of the Refettorio Ambrosiano that Bottura launched during the Milan Expo last year.

The effort took surplus food from the pavilions around the International Exposition to be transformed into nutritious meals for the poor.

Last year, the 35^th World Food Day was celebrated at the Milan Expo that witnessed the presence of several dignitaries.

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