United stand against food waste by industry and the consumers

On Friday the 4th of October 2013 the Danish Minister for Food, Agriculture and Fisheries, Karen Hækkerup, will be opening the largest event against food waste Denmark: ‘United Against Food Waste’. The event is the first of its kind, where industry and consumers unite in the joint fight against food waste. The event takes place under umbrella of the world’s largest alliance against food waste, the EU-collaboration FUSIONS.

From 2 to 6 pm. several thousands of people will enjoy good and free food made of from good surplus food which otherwise could have been wasted. The event is also featuring speeches e.g. CEO of Denmark’s largest agricultural organization Danish Agriculture & Food Council, Søren Gade, accompanied by top celebrity chefs and the international food waste expert Dr. Silvia Gaiani.

The Secretary General of the Nordic Council of Ministers, Dagfinn Høybråten, will present the first prizewinner of the design competition against food waste. The atmosphere of the day and music is in the safe hands of celebrity DJ Master Fatman.

On the 4th of October, leading stakeholders from all across the food value chain will fill the Town Hall Square in Copenhagen and together create the largest event against food waste in Denmark. The event, United Against Food Waste, will present a.o. the following organizations:

Danish Agriculture & Food Council, Danish Agricultural Women (“Landbokvinder”), REMA 1000, Coop, Unilever Food Solutions, Alfred Pedersen & Son Tomatoes and Timm Vladimir’s Kitchen’s Grab'n'Cook.

Thousands of locals and tourists will be able to get free delicious food made of good surplus food which otherwise could have been wasted, such as surplus bananas and smoothies from the supermarket chains in joint the fight against food waste.

A European movement

‘United Against Food Waste’ event is inspired by similar events, for example Feeding the 5000 in London. Nevertheless, it stands out due to of uniting both industry and the consumers. United Against Food Waste is held under the umbrella of EU-collaboration FUSIONS, which is the world’s largest alliance against food waste. 21 partners from all across Europe participate in FUSIONS, including Feeding the 5000, UN and the Danish consumer movement Stop Wasting Food (Stop Spild Af Mad) and Communiqué. Stop Wasting Food’s international Partners SAVE FOOD and Think.Eat.Save are also represented during the event.

“We are very proud of being able for the first time to gather so many important forces from all across the food value chain in this unique event,” says the initiator of the event ‘United Against Food Waste’, Selina Juul, founder of the Stop Wasting Food movement Denmark.

“In the future, this event can be easily replicated to other countries. We are already very engaged in international collaborations.” Selina Juul is also a Nordic Council Nature and Environment Prize 2013 Nominee for her fight against food waste.

Nothing will be wasted, and the Danish charity, Project Homeless, in collaboration with REMA 1000 will gather the remaining surplus food from the event, in favor of the homeless people in Copenhagen. The organic waste from the event will collected by Daka ReFood and converted into biogas.

United Against Food Waste
The Program, October 4th, 2013, Town Hall Square in Copenhagen

Links:

United Against Food Waste www.unitedagainstfoodwaste.com
Twitter hashtag: #unitedagainstfoodwaste
www.norden.org/foodwaste

Further information:

www.stopspildafmad.dk/inenglish.html
info@stopspildafmad.dk