29/09 International Day of Awareness of Food Loss and Waste

Recognizing the importance of the food waste problem, the United Nations last year established September 29 as International Day of Awareness of Food Loss and Waste. On this occasion, the non-profit organization Boroume announces that, since its founding in 2012 until today, it has saved & offered more than 50 million portions of food, from thousands of donors of all kinds to more than 600 charities in every corner of Greece, proving that reducing food waste is possible.

By creating an innovative model of direct food donation networking, Boroume has made food donation an easy, safe and transparent process for those who wish to offer surplus food for a good cause. Constantly increasing the efficiency of the model, Boroume today is able to save & offer 55 servings of food for every 1€ of operating costs.

Considering that prevention is the first and most important step in reducing food waste, Boroume raises public awareness of the importance of this phenomenon on a daily basis through events, information videos, presentations, online campaigns and seminars. Special emphasis is given to informing students through the educational program "Boroume at School", which to date more than 22.000 students of every educational level have attended.

The latest initiative of Boroume, the Alliance for the Reduction of Food Waste, reflects the need to create synergies and cross-sectoral collaborations of all parties involved in order to substantially reduce food waste in Greece. The Alliance is under the auspices of the Ministry of Environment and Energy.

For the above actions, Boroume has been awarded by the European Parliament with the European Citizen Award 2017.

The co-founder and manager of Boroume Mr. Alexandros Theodoridis states: "Despite the fact that the results of Boroume fill us with joy and optimism about what is possible in Greece in terms of reducing food waste, it is impossible not to recognize that everything we have managed to do is just a few drops in a vast ocean of food waste. As a country, we lag behind others in matters of prevention, management preparedness and recognizing the importance of the phenomenon for the environment, the economy and society. "As citizens / consumers, while there are clear signs of improvement, unfortunately, we still have a long way to go to radically change daily behaviors that contribute to food waste."

Indicative - Global food waste data:

• About 14% of food production is lost in the stages between production and retail (FAO Food Loss Index FAO, 2019), while about 17% of food production is wasted (UNEP Food Waste Index, UNEP 2021)
• For 2019, global food waste is estimated at approximately 931 million tonnes (61% came from households, 26% from catering, and 13% from retail
• If food waste were a country, it would be the 3rd most polluting in terms of greenhouse gas emissions in the world, after China and the USA
• 8% of total anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions are due to food waste

• The annual food waste in households in Greece is estimated at 142kg per person
• Only 36% of households state that they do not throw away food
• Food waste coexists with a high percentage of food insecurity in Greece as 1.35 million people = 12.4% of the population faces food insecurity (2020).
• We are in the 3rd worst position in the European Union (only 22% of citizens) in terms of the correct understanding of the term - date marking “best before "