“Be a hero – rescue food, rescue people, rescue planet!”

On 29 November 2016 Vytenis Andriukaitis, European Commissioner for Health and Food Safety, launched the EU Platform on Food Losses and Food Waste (FLW).

Contributing to the achievement of the SDG 12.3 target on food waste and maximising the contribution of all actors, the EU Platform on FLW aims to define measures needed to prevent food waste; share best practice; and evaluate progress made over time.

Marco Lucchini, General Director of Fondazione Banco Alimentare Onlus, attended the meeting representing Italy and in particular the Permanent Table for Coordination, which was established with the interministerial decree of 17 December 2012 and recognised by Law No 166 of 19 August 2016. The Table is composed of representatives from all the competent authorities, charitable organizations, and the food supply chain. The Table aims to deal with the issue of food aid through the management of the National fund for the distribution of food products to the most deprived and the recovery of still edible food products, prioritizing human consumption as indicated in the Communication Closing the loop – An EU action plan for the Circular Economy (COM(2015) 614 final of 2 December 2015, p. 16).

Commissioner Andriukaitis concluded his speech encouraging all the participants at the kick-off meeting of the EU Platform on FLW to “be a hero – rescue food, rescue people, rescue planet!”. We are thrilling and willing to be part of the team and give our contribution to the game! We’re in!

Information on the meeting are available here.