At the conference held on Thursday, December 15, 2022, related to donating food and what it looks like, in practice, active participants in numerous initiatives and programs related to donating food presented their experiences and activities: a representative from the Ministry of Agriculture, representatives of public institutions of the Red Cross Velika Gorica and the Center for Social Care Velika Gorica, the VG Legacy Association and a representative in front of the office of the representative of Croatia in the European Parliament, Ladislav Ilčić, who is also part of the working group in the research project Cities2030, which deals with the possibilities of the entire food system, i.e. its transformation.
We would like to thank all the lecturers for sharing their experiences and important information that help us further in order to transfer as many letters on paper as possible into practice.
Part of the transformation of the food system is taking care of socially vulnerable fellow citizens, and with this conference, we wanted to increase the awareness and knowledge of our citizens, caterers, shops, bakeries, retail chains and institutions about the importance of donating food, because in this way we not only take care of our fellow citizens but also reduce unnecessarily large amounts waste because Food is not waste. In this way, we would like to emphasize the importance of the local connection between business entities and mediators in donating for the sake of sensitivity and the short shelf life of donated food and the transport itself.
It is estimated that the amount of food that is thrown away in the world can feed 2 billion people. If it is not possible to prevent excess food, food can be donated if it is safe and healthy.
There are a number of reasons to donate leftover food that is still safe to eat. One of the most important reasons is to help people who are in need, but you should definitely add economic savings and a positive ecological aspect, since large amounts of surplus food that end up as waste have a negative impact on the environment.
The place where you can find all the answers for all the links in donating is the Internet Platform for preventing food waste, which was created by the Ministry of Agriculture with the aim of connecting food donors and intermediaries in the food donation chain more quickly.
What the Internet Platform for preventing food waste provides:
simpler and more efficient redistribution of surplus food to the needy positive economic, social and environmental aspects developed a system for exchanging information, sharing experiences and best practices ideas about the possibilities and ways of implementing activities to reduce the generation of food waste integration of all information on the topic of food waste in one place
To whom the Platform is intended:
- competent authorities, SPH (primary producers, processors, distributors, food retailers and restaurateurs)
- the academic and scientific community
- consumer associations
- various civil society associations and consumers
Entities in the food business who wish to donate food or intermediaries in the food donation chain registered with the Ministry of Agriculture who do not have a username and password for the IT system for donating food can contact us via e-mail uprava.stocarstvo@mps.hr.
One of these mediators in Velika Gorica is the VG Legacy Association, which opened the social store Robin Food in Velika Gorica. As many of our fellow citizens already know, the association is active in helping the socially disadvantaged in our area and beyond, through its volunteer work and continuous collection of necessary funds.
It is possible to donate both food and money to VG Legacy’s account: IBAN: HR9124840081135191457 – description of payment: Robin Food
In order for as many citizens as possible to be involved in this story and to help socially disadvantaged fellow citizens, continuous monthly donations are needed so that socially disadvantaged families can feed themselves on a monthly basis, because donations are, unfortunately, most present during the holiday season, and are needed throughout years.
We hereby send to all our business entities and fellow citizens to raise awareness of this much-needed connection either through occasional donations or by opening a standing order to ensure monthly assistance and security for our volunteers on a monthly basis.
The representative in front of the office of the representative of Croatia in the European Parliament, Ladislav Ilčić, presented knowledge and examples of good practices in selected countries of the European Union.
The paradox of abundance and scarcity – 88 million tons of food waste is generated in the EU every year (20% of the total food produced), 12 million EU citizens live at risk of poverty or social exclusion, and more than 40 million people cannot afford a quality meal.
Food waste occurs at every stage of the food value chain. To prevent food waste, we need to move to a circular economy and more sustainable food systems. Prevention of food waste should be tackled at the source, where surpluses are created, and when a surplus occurs, the best solution is to redistribute it for human consumption.
The development agency of the City of Velika Gorica – VE-GO-RA, together with the company Inventivna rješanje (Velika Gorica LAB), implements the Cities2030 project co-financed from the EU program Obzor, together with more than 40 partners from 17 European countries. The goal of the project is the establishment of a modern and sustainable city food system, which includes all areas related to food flows – from production, distribution, and sale to disposal of organic waste.
Let’s transform the food system TOGETHER
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