Across the EU, at least 5 million tonnes of food are lost post-harvest annually while a growing share of the population is unable to afford fresh produce (Eurostat, 2022). This mismatch between supply and demand results in the waste of produce in parallel to aggravating diets affecting the health of vulnerable groups.
What are the best practices for collaborations between farmers and Food Banks bridging the gap by recovering and redistributing produce to charities supporting people in need? What are the main hurdles and drivers of surplus food donation in the primary sector? How can technology help to scale up food donation of produce to exploit the environmental, social, and economic potential of preventing food loss?
To tackle these questions, FEBA organised an expert panel on the topic “From farm to food donation. How to maximise the potential of preventing harvest losses to ensure food security?” on 19 January 2024 in the framework of the Global Food for Food and Agriculture (GFFA) in Berlin. Followed by a keynote speech from Dr. Felicitas Schneider (Thünen Institute) who set the scene from a research perspective, an interactive discussion between Chris Hill (FoodCloud), Eva Sali (Copa-Cogeca), and Adolfo Villafiorita (Shair.Tech), moderated by Angela Frigo (FEBA), took place. It shed light on the topic from the perspective of Food Banks, technology solution providers, and the agricultural sector. The aspects addressed triggered questions from the audience, which were happily responded to. Lastly, Rosa Rolle (FAO) highlighted in her closing remarks the important role of fruits and vegetables in human nutrition, food security, and health as well as in achieving UN SDGs.
