"Athens has lost its appetite for food waste"- Social Innovation Europe

Αρθρο στο Social Innovation Europe του Jeffrey Andreoni που δημοσιεύθηκε στις 9/3/12 Food Waste is a puzzling situation where shops and restaurants have too much food and start throwing away what they don't sell while, at the same time and in the same city, there might be people starving. The US is one of the leaders in food waste, as a recent American documentary has illustrated all too clearly. In the EU, 90 million tons of perfectly good food gets discarded annually as a new German documentary painfully investigates. In the UK, initiatives such as the People's Kitchen, reclaim this food by collecting it from shops before it expires and then cooking it up for a massive free feast. Greece has joined suit and food waste initiatives have begun to gain momentum in Athens. One such initiative is called Μπορούμε (Boroume), and its founder Xenia Papastavrou, has attracted a lot of local and international press attention. Boroume has created a network that connects soup kitchens and other such institutions with shops, bakeries and tavernas that are willing to donate their surplus food. Basically they mediate between the shops and soup kitchens to set up a time and place for the donation to occur. They also can tell families in need where they can get food nearby. The local newspaper coverage they have been receiving has helped get the word out about Boroume and several shops have been approaching them to donate food. The Food Bank in Greece, which assists 216 institutions in Athens and Thessaloniki, has seen a surge in the number of people requiring nutritious food, so Boroume is attempting to fill a gap that the crisis has opened up. Many of the recipients are child welfare organizations. Another powerful initiative is a group of people that have formed a mobile soup kitchen called O Allos Anthropos. Everyday they set up shop in a different neighbourhood of Athens and give out free food to the needy. Many of the recipients are from marginalized backgrounds and there are also many children eating among them. Πηγή: Social Innovation Europe