Do you eat every last slice of your bread? | The Dutch No-Waste Week will start soon
De verspillingsvrije week
De verspillingsvrije week
De verspillingsvrije week
Disclaimer: more interesting for Dutchies. But this might inspire your country.
In one week, we here in the Netherlands can save more than 60 million slices of bread at home by simply not wasting it. Bakeries and supermarkets participate in a campaign of the ‘Samen Tegen Voedselverspilling’ foundation (translated: Together Against Food Waste) to prevent bread wastage among consumers. One of their initiatives is to put the sticker ‘Do you eat every slice?’ on a whopping 3 million loaves of bread. Bread is the product Dutch households waste the most, followed by dairy products, vegetables, fruit, potatoes and meat. All these products play a leading role during the national No-Waste Week from the 7th until the 13th of September.
Every hospitality entrepreneur can confirm they most likely throw away too much in a day, even if you are already consciously working on it. For those entrepreneurs who would like to participate, start to look at your business’ breakfast waste; how many slices of bread, baked rolls, bowls with fruit and toppings are thrown in the trash every day? There is room for improvement, right?
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What does the foundation ‘Samen Tegen Voedselverspilling’ do?
Toine Timmermans, director of the ‘Samen Tegen Voedselverspilling’ foundation: “Reducing food waste is one of the most important measures against climate change worldwide. Many people don’t know this yet and that’s what makes our campaign so important. The beautiful thing about this is that everyone can participate and contribute something positive. Every slice of bread or squeezed milk carton counts. If everybody in the Netherlands does not waste any food at home for a week, this will save 11.5 million kilos of good food, which is approximately 40 million kilograms fewer CO2 emissions.”
The No-Waste Week
On Sustainable Tuesday (7th of September) ‘Samen Tegen Voedselverspilling’ together with the Dutch Nutrition Center and more than 100 companies, social organizations, governments and schools, open the third national No-Waste Week. That week activities will take place across the country to inspire consumers to buy, cook and store waste-free. Activities around bread are a big part of this.
Starting August 24, the TV commercial of the foundation: ‘Hello bread eaters of the Netherlands’ will be shown on national television. During the No-Waste Week, bakeries and supermarkets will pay extra attention to the prevention of bread wastage by placing the sticker ‘Do you also eat every slice of your bread?’ on 3 million loaves of bread. Every Dutch person can save an average of 4 pieces of bread a week from the waste bin. By freezing bread and turning old bread into something tasty, we can prevent waste. Every single piece of slice of bread is worth eating. Tag along and waste none!
Website: Samen Tegen Voedselverspilling
