Italy celebrates 5th National Day Against Food Waste

On 5 February Italy is holding its 5th National Day Against Food Waste, established by the Italian Ministry of the Environment in partnership with the Spreco Zero (Zero Waste) campaign and the University of Bologna.

According to the Food Sustainability Index, developed by Barilla Foundation with the Economist Intelligence Unit, every year Italians waste 65 kg of food per person.

This is an alarming figure considering that in addition to being an ethical problem, food waste fuels climate change, generating 8% of annual greenhouse gases.

Food lost or wasted every year around the world translates into a financial loss of 2.6 trillion dollars a year, while also wasting the natural resources used to produce it.

The fruit and vegetables thrown away every year requires over 73 million cubic meters of water to be produced, enough to fulfill the drinking water requirements of a whole region of Italy such as Puglia for 153 days. 28% of the land available around the world is used to produce food that isn’t consumed.

Food waste is, globally, preventing the Sustainable Development Goals of the UN’s 2030 Agenda. Visit the Barilla Foundation website to find out all the projects, articles and publications put in place to better understand the causes and therefore identify the solutions in terms of food losses and waste.

Find out more about the EFC’s Thematic Network European Foundations for Sustainable Agriculture and Food