Curacao must pass Law to deliver leftover Food to Charities instead of filling Dumpsters

Curacao a Dutch Caribbean island along the coast of Venezuela should consider introducing a series of incentives to end food waste in order to better fight teaming poverty. On average, almost half of the global food production ended in garbage a couple of years ago.

The environmental, economic and moral benefits are so clear that such a bill would receive broad support across all political parties and is speeding through the approval process.

At the moment many developed countries in the EU and the rest of the world have past laws against just throwing eatable food away, like for instance in Italy and France.

Instead of throwing away leftover food, Curacao also needs businesses and restaurants that sell food to donate unsold leftovers to charities, rather than throw it away as garbage, in a world where hunger strikes large levels of society nowadays.

The next step will be getting businesses to comply, providing some sort of nudge to change the current model of careless waste, like some kind of tax relief. Other countries such as France are nudging businesses in the form of a steep fine.

Italy is taking a different approach. Instead of imposing penalties, the country will give garbage collection tax breaks to businesses that take part in the initiative. All food donated by businesses has to be recorded so the tax break will be easy to implement.

Through this latest bill, legislators want to cut down on expenses. Ultimately, they want to recover 1 billion tonnes of excess food in 2016, up from last year’s total of 550 million tonnes.

It’s an ambitious number, but the food recovery movement is rapidly maturing. People throughout societies from Europe to the USA are eager to get involved. It is a win, win for all the parties involved.

A French politician is looking to pass an EU-wide proposal to end food waste in all member countries. The problem is simple – we have food going to waste and poor people who are going hungry.

The Danes seem to be the most ardent supporters of the movement, with some people even preferring to shop at food waste stores rather than regular grocery stores.

And chefs around the world–the arbiters of taste–are experimenting with food waste menus to remove the stigma.

Giving away food waste might strike some as denigrating to the poor and homeless, because it suggests that they don’t deserve quality food. But the vast majority of food waste around the world is perfectly edible by the time it hits a dumpster.

For instance, if white rice is mis-labeled basmati rice, it’s food waste. If a vegetable is misshapen it’s food waste. If a cereal box has a tear, food waste. A can with a ripped label also food waste. A bruised fruit, yup, food waste.

Food is wasted at all parts of the supply chain: at the agricultural level, while it is being handled and stored, while it is being processed, when it arrives at a grocery store and after it is purchased by catering businesses restaurants and consumers.

Each part of the supply chain calls for a different approach to reducing waste, but the lowest hanging fruit is clearly distribution to consumers.

This food has arrived at an organized location and is constantly monitored and prevented from going bad. Encouraging businesses to mark excess food for delivery to charities instead of dumpsters is an easy fix.

ABC Flash Point Escape Poverty News 2022.