I’ve written several blog posts in the past about our need to reduce food waste and it’s a topic that often comes up in community gardens too. My experience is that when we begin to grow our own food we become much more aware of all our food waste – if we’ve taken the time to grow and care for a plant, we’re much more likely to want to eat it than throw it away!
Pictured at the launch of the Foodcloud Fest are founders Iseult Ward and Aoibheann OBrien with food expert Spohie Morris
I was therefore delighted to see a press release in my inbox about a new campaign from Foodcloud, a new community-based social enterprise that brings food businesses and charities together using an innovative App they’ve created. The App matches those with too much food with those who have too little and if you’re involved in those sectors, simply by registering at Foodcloud, you can start to make a difference.
Iseult Ward, one of the founders of Foodcloud explains the concept here:
There were a few figures in that clip that shocked me, not least that Ireland is the fifth worst country in Europe regarding its food waste. How can that be when there are so few of us??? The good news is that if people sign up and take the pledge, that figure could drop dramatically. Foodcloud estimates that if 50,000 people in Ireland reduce food waste by 1 kilogram per week, just over €1m will be saved, the equivalent of over 5.7 million meals.
Photo Credit: Foodcloud.ie
To help to raise awareness of the pledge, Foodcloud will host a Feast on Wednesday, 2nd April at Smock Alley Theatre in Temple Bar, Dublin.
Ticket holders will be treated to a lavish, three course banquet of fresh, quality Irish ingredients that are ignored or forgotten by supermarkets, restaurants and the modern food system, prepared by Chef Sophie Morris. The Foodcloud Feast will bring together policy-makers, chefs, retailers and foodies, to discuss how the food waste challenge can be tackled, as well as identify the opportunities it provides for the food sector.
If you’d like to take part in the event, tickets for The Foodcloud Feast are available through www.tickets.ie at €37 per person which includes a 3 course meal with wine or beer and lively debate, in the atmospheric surroundings of the Smock Alley Theatre.
If you can’t make it to the feast and/or are involved in the food or charity sectors and think you can help one another, then head over to FoodCloud and sign up today or if you know anyone who might benefit, please forward this post on to them and help to spread the word.
As Foodcloud are hoping to show, if we work together we really can create a more positive future!
10 Comments
Food waste is something we really need to concentrate on. I’m getting so much better but it’s often not the consumer that is to blame, it’s the supermarkets that throw away their food.
I heard a story of a large supermarket in the UK putting bleech on the left over food in their skips so that it couldn’t be salvaged by freegans. Crazy! Wish I could go to this banquet, it looks amazing.
I read that too – such a colossal waste. So much bread, veg etc is thrown away – criminal really. And then there’s also the misshapen veg that farmers can’t find anyone to take.
I was encouraged to read that the charities will take the misshapen veg so hopefully we’ll begin to see an end to that too if this campaign is successful.
The supermarkets, the restaurants – they all have a part to play which is why this app is so innovative if enough people sign up for it (and yes, me too re the banquet!)
Now that we have hens, I love that I can give them so much scrap food – I boil up the potato, carrot, parsnip, turnip etc skins for them and they love them. They also love any bits of left over pasta or rice!
It is scary, especially given the reports of poverty and the need for cheap food, to see so much being wasted.
We had quite a surprise recently when we spent some time in a house that didn’t have animals to feed the waste and scraps to. It gave us a different perspective as like you Lorna, any food waste here goes to the animals or compost. We’ve slashed our own food waste by writing and shopping weekly from a menu we create together as a family. The App is a very encouraging way of approaching industry waste however and all the best of luck to them with it.
Great post Dee. We hear so many negatives about when food and technology intersect – so it’s refreshing to hear about something positive like Foodcloud. I posted something on this topic last year that you may find interesting as well (http://sustainablerhythms.com/2013/10/21/food-waste-figures-for-tesco-in-the-uk/). Looking forward to hearing more from you and your followers on this one!
Thanks Derek – I’m hoping Foodcloud will consider taking excess from community gardens and CSAs too as it seems a perfect solution to the glut we’re sometimes faced with. I’ll be sure to shout out and tell you all if they do!
Delighted to read about this great initiative, great posts, the stats are scary though. I really hope this gets the attention and support it deserves.
Thanks Naomi and yes, me too! Will be doing everything I can to help promote this as it’s certainly an issue that needs to be addressed.