(THIS ARTICLE IS MACHINE TRANSLATED by Google from Norwegian)
"When I made the documentary Taste the Waste in 2011, it was already a theme that edible food turned into garbage, but it was not discussed in public. I was the first to address this problem, ”says Valentin Thurn, filmmaker and political activist. I meet him at Potsdamer Platz while the Berlinale film festival is in progress. "I recently attended a policy meeting in Berlin and discussed possible solutions for food sharing," he says.
Key the waste addresses some unpleasant truths – namely that over half of the food produced in Germany ends up in the trash. On an annual basis, we are talking about 15 million tonnes of food, worth 20 million euros. The amount of food thrown away in Europe and North America is enough to feed all the world's hungry people three times. In general, meat is the biggest problem – and the countries where a lot of meat is eaten are also the biggest culprits. The richer the countries are, the greater sinners we are in this field. India is the country that comes out best: Had everyone had the same eating habits as there, we could have fed the world's population at least twice.
Recovers rejected food. The film Taste the Waste was intended as a practical pointer to solve the "the food waste" crisis, and has resulted in extensive organization against food waste. Since 2012, the organization Foodsharing has fought against waste food and food waste at all levels, from producers to consumers. The goal is a food production without food waste at all. "We try to show how easy it is to handle so-called food waste. We have created an online platform that makes it possible for members to save food that would otherwise have been thrown away. People who have cooked too much food or are going on holiday can offer over 100 users to come and pick up their food, "he says.
"I have been thinking for a long time about what can come of so much good food being thrown away instead of benefiting people. In recent years, we have created a system of restaurants and food chains, where people can come and pick up food that the restaurants and chains would otherwise throw away. Many restaurants would not agree to this – but of course no one stands up in public and says they are against it. "
However, the initiative was so well received that it did not take long before it became larger and more organized. "We started out small, but founded Foodsharing and created the website foodsharing.de after the overwhelming response from people," Thurn says.
“The difference between 'food banks' and 'foodsharing' is that in the former, people must show that they really need the food. This is not the case with foodsharing. Of course, there are people who have little money to make use of foodsharing, but basically you can be a millionaire and get this food. It's good food, and everybody can take care of it, "says Thurn.
The amount of food thrown in Europe and North America is enough to feed all the world's hungry people three times.
He says that the organization has also invented the concept FairTeiler, a distribution network that will give people who do not have access to the internet, the opportunity to participate in foodsharing. A FairTeiler consists of a publicly placed shelf and a refrigerator where people can place leftover food. There are currently around 300 official FairTeilers with thousands of volunteers who can clean cabinets and freezers on a regular basis and fill them with food. "We have 12 volunteers – so-called foodsavers. So far, more than three tonnes of food from 000 shops, restaurants and bakeries have been saved from being thrown away, "says Thurn. «
One of the many problems we see is that several supermarkets have full shelves of food products at all times. They base this on psychology – a form of seduction to promote consumption. Studies show that consumers are more willing to buy a product in a full-stack shelf with products than a standalone product in a relatively empty shelf, ”he says.
Between 10 and 50 per cent of the food in the stores is not even shipped for sale, since they do not fit the expected consumer wishes.
Flat structure. In 2012, Foodsharing partnered with a biological supermarket in Berlin, together with the group Foodsaving, founded by Raphael Fellmer, who lives in Stuttgart. "After a cashless journey from Europe to Mexico – to raise awareness of our garbage-filled society – I lived for a while in Mexico City and started foodsaving there," Fellmer says. "I went to restaurants and bakeries in Mexico City and picked up foods that they could no longer sell. At the same time, I heard that something similar was happening in Berlin. "
Fellmer emphasizes the importance of a flat structure and a bureaucratic, democratic organization.
He was the one who took the initiative to get food from supermarkets in Berlin. "I think similar things have happened for a number of years, but not in such an organized way. Thousands of volunteers have put in 600 hours of volunteer work related to this. Since 000, we have had more than 2012 food waste pick-ups in Germany. We want people to focus on getting food, not filling out forms. We have so much food that we could easily feed all the people on the planet. In Europe and America, each person eats an average of 260-000 kilos of meat each year. That's too much for the world. We can not even produce that much meat, so we have to import. It would be best if the world had eaten a plant-based diet, "he says. "With over seven billion people on earth, capitalism is no longer a sustainable system." Valentin Thurn points out that a law was recently passed in France banning supermarkets from throwing away edible food. "We hope to introduce the same law in Germany," he says. Last year, Thurn also made the film 10 Billions – What's On Your Plate?, where the title suggests that we will be 10 billion people on the planet by the year 2050. In this film, which recently had an international premiere, Thurn visits food production sites in Africa and the United States. An important message in the film is that the problem of nourishing the world is not just the number of people on the planet – but first and foremost the ecological footprint of humans.
