The summer is here and the vast majority of people take the chance to enjoy a break close to the sea. At least, this is the usual picture in Greece, a top tourist destination especially during the summer months when the temperature rises high calling for a seaside escape; the “menu” of such a break always comes with good food. But what is the taste of the waste left by what we enjoy on our plate? Not pleasant and healthy at all, if we consider the official alarming figures. Food loss and waste generates 8-10% of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions – almost five times the total emissions from the aviation sector. At the same time, 1/5 of food available to consumers is being wasted, at the retail, food service, and household level (source: UNEP Food Waste Index Report 2024).
So, what can we do to enjoy not only our food/meals but also cleaner beaches, seas and air? Food waste prevention and proper management; these are the two main “ingredients of the recipe” to bring about a vital change even on a local scale. Local authorities can play a key-role to the achievement of such a target through training and education with proper tools and best practices that can later be implemented at community level focusing on tourists, food service businesses and residents. That’s what cooked up the idea of the FoodWISE project implemented in coastal rural areas around the Black Sea basin with a pretty high touristic volume during the summer season. Incommon executes it in Greece, along with partners from Bulgaria, Turkey and Georgia.
To achieve all of the above, a series of targeted actions were required in the five collaborating municipalities of the regions of Central Macedonia and Eastern Macedonia & Thrace. During the initial stage of Capacity Assessment, all the research data needed to adapt the activities based on the capacity of each municipality to address the issue of food waste was collected through interviews and focus groups. The knowledge gathered, combined with desk research, led to the creation of a Toolkit with practical and theoretical activities for capacity building in coastal rural municipalities. Using the Toolkit, both the International and Local Training sessions for municipal representatives on issues related to the prevention and proper management of food waste were successfully designed and implemented. At the same time period, the student contest “I VALUE FOOD” took place, aiming to inform and prepare future citizens on this issue , while “opening their appetite’ for active and creative engagement. ;during this contest, students were asked to produce a video of preparing a dish with ingredients from leftovers and/or products that are close to their expiration date. This is the first act of a broader information and awareness campaign, the “FOOD WASTE PATROL”, that targets not only local residents and local entrepreneurs, but also tourists, conveying the message of avoiding food waste.
The campaign will culminate with the “REPLATE” festival, which will be held in one of the municipalities. For the closing of the project, an international high-level conference under the supervision of the project team will take place. Beyond the environmental benefits that will arise through the activities and the activation of citizens in addressing food waste, FoodWISE project teaches how to cooperate with organizations from different countries and design and implement joint actions, which bring people in the region closer together.