On the occasion of the Day established to prevent food waste (February 5), the Too Good To Go app celebrates the goals achieved in four years of activity in Italy. And he gives some useful tips for saving food, therefore resources and money.
Too Good To Go, 5 data on food waste
Born in 2015 in the Netherlands, the app Too Good To Go has been operating in Italy since March 2019, currently in over 600 Municipalities.
The system allows you to purchase unsold food at a discounted price at the end of the day at bars, restaurants, bakeries, pastry shops, supermarkets and hotels.
In Italy this app has already made it possible to save 11 million meals (in Magic Boxes) by connecting 7 million users and 25 merchants.
30% of food is still wasted
The volumes of food waste remains approximate (as it is already noted on Eurostat reports). However, the estimates serve to raise consumer awareness:
- food waste is estimated to amount to 30% of total production,
- food waste represents 10% of CO2 emissions. If it were a country, it would be the third largest emitter after the United States and China,
- the European Union throws away more food than it imports (153,5 million tons of waste and 138 million tons of imports),
- 53% of food waste in Europe is attributed to consumers. Each person, through their actions and habits, can really make a difference,
- in Italy, an estimated 67 kg of food per capita is wasted in a year at the domestic level, 4 kg per capita at the retail level (Food Waste Index, UNEP, 2021).
Reduce waste. The 5 tips of Too Good To Go
The commitment of each it is the decisive element for change. Too Good To Go provides 5 tips to reduce food waste in domestic consumption.
1) Learn to read labels well. Know the difference between the expiration date and the Minimum Conservation Term can avoid the waste of food with TMC (the wording "da consummate if preferably I enter”), which are often thrown away even if they are still good.
2) Plan your spending creatively. Writing and planning your shopping in advance, without exceeding in purchases, can help drastically reduce food waste at home.
3) Store food properly. Knowing which are the best ways to preserve food in the pantry, in the refrigerator or in the freezer can help extend the life of the products.
4) Reuse and recycle. Creatively reusing leftovers in the kitchen is important and can help find the right destination for all types of food.
5) Use the technology at your disposal. In less than 4 years, Too Good To Go has helped save more than 11 million meals in Italy, involving 7 million people who have downloaded the app and allowing 25.000 commercial operators to commit themselves personally against waste.
Save 11 million of Magic Box means avoiding the emissions of more than 3000 Italian citizens for one year, but also those deriving from more than 150 years of hot showers.
These and other solutions to measure and reduce food loss and food waste are being studied in the research project Wasteless, in Horizon Europe.
A professional journalist since January 1995, she has worked for newspapers (Il Messaggero, Paese Sera, La Stampa) and periodicals (NumeroUno, Il Salvagente). She is the author of journalistic studies on food and has published the book "Reading labels to know what we eat".
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