"Non-profit organization fights food waste in Greece"| Συνέντευξη στο"The Greek Star"

από τον Δημήτρη Πολυμενόπουλο στο The Greek Star | 10.06.2013 This is part of a series highlighting the social and citizen sector in Greece, in which The Greek Star and  The Goddess of the Hunt are participating, and these publications have permission to reprint. The Greek Star spoke to Alexander Theodoridis of  Boroume,  a non-profit organization that fights food waste by organizing the distribution of surplus food for charity throughout Greece. BOROUME is a non-profit organization that fights food waste by organizing the distribution of surplus food for charity throughout Greece. Are there any official statistics for food waste in Greece? There are no official statistics from the Greek state as far as we know of. One of the few sources is to be found here.  A larger research pool will follow, so these results should be dealt with care as they concern a small sample of only 80 people. Traditionally, Greek households have always prepared very large amounts of food -  way more than necessary for consumption. Also, anyone who has visited a tavern with Greeks knows that they used to order very large amounts of food which, at the end of the meal, was simply thrown away. Obviously due to the crisis, these habits have changed over the last 2-3 years - this can even be observed empirically. For instance, the “doggy bag” is an increasing habit which was frowned upon just some years ago. Boroume connects those who can give, with those who are in need.  What are some examples of both? Donors range from the very large to the very small. We have multinational companies that offer food which wasn’t consumed in their company’s cafeteria. Yet, there may also be a grandma living in Piraeus who wants to donate three portions of galaktoboureko and two portions of chickpeas to a homeless shelter in her town. Boroume connects every food donation regardless of its origin and size, following our motto that “every portion of food counts.” The recipients of our food donations can be categorized in four different groups: (a) institutions (orphanages, elderly homes, etc), (b) municipal social services (and via the poorest families of a district), (c) soup-kitchens and, (d) schools. How has Boroume been received in Greece? Boroume has been very well received because if offers a win-win-win model of helping other people. Take for example a bakery in Galatsi that wishes to donate its surplus food at the end of the day. The owner is happy because he does not want to throw food away in this day and age - by donating it, he helps the local community. This practice makes the employees of the bakery happy as well, because they feel accomplished by contributing to a good cause. Finally, the needy recipient is happy because they will receive fresh, quality products - in this particular example, a soup kitchen organized by the St. Glykeria church nearby. I’m happy to say that Greek society is very willing to help and we are witnessing an increase in social solidarity, mainly due to the fact that the crisis has left no family untouched. What logistical difficulties has Boroume faced? Since Boroume does not, by itself, collect, store or distribute any food donations, the only logistical problem that we encountered at the beginning, was the lack of our own office. One important change in our strategy though, took place last autumn. Then, incoming donations were so overwhelming, that we decided to concentrate on our main cause and only process food donations. All other kinds of donations, like clothes, furniture, toys, etc, are being diverted to other organizations, which are more capable of finding the right recipients. Almost everything in our office though, from computers to furniture, has been provided by donors.  Has Boroume been forced to change other people’s mentality in order to accomplish its mission? We have encountered skepticism many times. The vast majority of cases concern trying to minimize hesitation by possible donors. For example this has been the case with a major multinational company that wanted to donate its daily food surplus from its restaurants. In order to do that though, the company wanted to have legal protection against any malevolent lawsuits regarding food quality. This has been solved by an agreement signed by the company and the recipients. The only areas where we have not been able to overcome food donation concerns are from hotels that belong to multinational companies with headquarters overseas, and from the Greek military. What do you consider as being Boroume’s lifeline? Boroume has worked extensively towards increasing public awareness in Greece regarding food waste, using traditional (TV, radio, press) as well as through social media (Facebook, Twitter). Social media has been especially significant for us - Facebook is a great platform through which we spread our message and demonstrate some of the best practices of donors, showing how easy it is for everyone to contribute. Boroume also relies on funding and volunteers in order to carry out its mission. As a non-profit organization, our sources of funding are either private donations or grants from foundations like the Stavros Niarchos or the Bodossaki Foundation. As for our volunteers, they are either very young professionals who have just finished their academic training and are currently jobless or freshly retired professionals who want to continue to have an active and fulfilling life by offering us their knowledge and experience. The vast majority of our volunteers are women, and all our volunteers are trained by Boroume.