- Title: Danish 'food oasis' saves 12 tonnes of food a day from landfill
- Date: 18th October 2019
- Summary: RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL (FILE - MAY 31, 2012) (REUTERS) LANDFILL SITE VEHICLE MOVING RUBBISH PEOPLE SORTING RUBBISH TRUCK DUMPING RUBBISH MAN GRABBING RUBBISH BLACK VULTURES EATING RUBBISH
- Embargoed: 1st November 2019 12:18
- Keywords: United Nations World Food Day food waste food poverty food waste ending up in landfill
- Location: KORSOR, DENMARK / RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL
- City: KORSOR, DENMARK / RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL
- Country: Denmark
- Topics: Environment
- Reuters ID: LVA002B1MKUAJ
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Rich nations waste $750 billion of food each year, double the amount needed to end global hunger, the United Nations said this week as World Food Day on Wednesday (October 16) looked to highlight the shocking amount of food that is wasted.
But around the world concerned citizens are taking it into their own hands to stop perfectly edible food from ending up in the bin.
Three years ago, then only 17-year-old Rasmus Erichsen started what is now Denmark's largest food waste organisation in an attempt to fight climate change and food poverty sharing leftover food through food shops and social media.
Today, the organisation called 'Stop Waste Locally' saves around 12 tonnes of food from ending up in bins every day and is run by volunteers in over one hundred Danish cities. All cities have its own Facebook group where moderators organise the sharing of leftover groceries and use them for joint dinners.
Besides the local social media groups, Stop Waste Locally operates nine 'food oases' where leftover food is gathered from local supermarkets most days of the week and distributed to customers for free. The customers are usually from poor families or homeless people and the organisation also provides support from social workers at the oases.
The organisation is entirely voluntary and has created partnerships with a long list of supermarkets, truck companies and shops.
Now aged 20, Erichsen runs the organisation besides his full-time job as a fast food restaurant manager and is paying all expenses out of his own pocket. The organisation is strongly dependent on support from local communities and are looking to get donations from private funds.
Estimates made by the United Nations show that nearly one third of all food produced in the world is lost or wasted amounting up to as much as 1.3 billion tonnes a year.
Food waste also squanders land and water used to produce it, and also releases methane, a greenhouse gas, when left to rot.
(Production: Andreas Mortensen, Ilze Filks) - Copyright Holder: FILE REUTERS (CAN SELL)
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