FAO.org

The Global Initiative on Food Loss and Waste Reduction collaborates with the EU Committee of Regions for regional and local policy development

In June 2016 the Committee of Regions (CoR) issued an Opinion on food waste. The FAO Nutrition and Food Systems Division (ESN) and FAO Liaison office in Brussels have contributed to the Opinion of the Committee of the Regions on food waste with knowledge transfer for coherent policy development also in view of achieving Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 12.3. + READ MORE

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) is providing capacity building to the Postharvest Unit of the National Fisheries and Aquaculture Administration of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. A training session was organized in Kinshasa for 30 officials from the Administration and decentralized agencies in the provinces of Congo Central and Kinshasa, as well as members of fishers’ and fish merchants’ associations. + READ MORE

Members in Europe and Central Asia hand FAO its homework for the next two years

At FAO’s Regional Conference for Europe, members called on FAO to work with them on growing food for expanding populations and international markets while using more sustainable practices. A between-sessions side-event drew attention to food losses and waste as “a global problem of enormous economic, environmental and societal significance”. + READ MORE

AU-EU conference on Investing in a Food-Secure Future

The Government of the Netherlands, the African Union Commission and the European Commission are holding the African Union-European Union (AU-EU) Investing in a Food-Secure Future Conference on 4–6 July in Noordwijk, the Netherlands. The second of the conference’s five themes is reducing food losses and waste. + READ MORE

Food loss and waste reduction regional workshops in Costa Rica (Spanish)

“In the workshops, participants have the opportunity to voice their perceptions and concerns about the losses that occur in their regions and production systems, identify the causes of these losses, and begin to provide possible solutions to the problem” said Laura Brenes, Costa Rican coordinator of SAVE FOOD Network and specialist in agribusiness technology. + READ MORE

Launch of the Food Loss and Waste Standard at 3GF 2016
flwprotocol.org

At the 2016 Summit of the Global Green Growth Forum (3GF), the Food Loss and Waste Protocol (FLWP) partnership launched the global FLW Standard for quantifying and reporting on food and associated inedible parts removed from the food supply chain. + READ MORE

Debate on best-before date produces new business ideas – Expired, but still fine
interpack

The United Kingdom Company Approved Food buys large quantities of residual food stocks from wholesalers and supermarkets – food that is either close to or past its best-before date – and sells it to its customers. Not only does this help avoid food losses and waste, but it also benefits the consumer. + READ MORE

Council of the European Union conclusions on food losses and food waste
Council of the European Union

Conclusions on food losses and food waste were adopted at the Council of the European Union’s (EU’s) 3 479th meeting on 28 June 2016. The Council has expressed concern about the significant amount of food being produced but not eaten. + READ MORE

Pope Francis urges increased commitment to the fight for Zero Hunger
World Food Programme

During his visit to the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP), the Pope highlighted the issue of food waste: “Food discarded is, in a sense, food that is stolen from the tables of the poor and starving.” + READ MORE

Could technology reduce food waste and help feed the world?
BBC

Olio app connects neighbours and local businesses wanting to exchange or sell surplus edible food. Users can open the app and add a photo, description, price and details of the food they are offering, along with details on when and where it can be picked up. + READ MORE

Reclaim: reducing the world of waste
The Huffington Post

The Huffington Post has launched a campaign to highlight the scale of food waste and, more important, to work collaboratively to reduce it. The campaign is called “Reclaim”, which means to recover what has been lost. + READ MORE

Enactus announces global food loss and waste competition
PRNewswire

Tom Gorman, Board Member of the international non-profit organization ENACTUA and Chief Executive Officer of the multinational logistics company Brambles Limited, has announced the launch of the global 1 Race 2 End Waste initiative on reducing food loss and waste in developing and developed countries. + READ MORE

Postharvest training and service centres
openIDEO

The Africa Reach out Foundation focuses on solving postharvest handling concerns in Uganda. It has launched an initiative to establish postharvest centres with training programmes and processing facilities to help small-scale farmers reduce food waste in Uganda and beyond. + READ MORE

The Rockefeller Foundation Cassava Innovation Challenge
The Rockefeller Foundation

The Rockefeller Foundation, Dalberg, and the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) have launched The Rockefeller Foundation Cassava Innovation Challenge to address food loss and spoilage in the cassava value chain. Apply by 8 July! + READ MORE

AU-EU Investing in a Food Secure Future Noordwijk, the Netherlands, 4 - 6 July 2016
The conference had a two-day Experts’ segment followed by a High Level Ministerial segment on the third day, to give political orientations to improve AU-EU agricultural cooperation and build on previous.

UK AD & Biogas 2016 goes global
Birmingham NEC, 6 - 7 July 2016
Discover the very best AD technology for sewage treatment, food waste, farm and small-scale plants, community and micro-scale AD plants, and gas upgrading.

ISEKI_food2016 Food Waste Recovery Workshop
Vienna, Austria, 6 - 8 July 2016
FAO is organizing with UNEP and the support of Switzerland a Workshop on Sustainable Value Chains for Sustainable Food Systems.

Online course "Global Postharvest Loss Prevention: Fundamentals, Technologies and Actors"
11 July 2016
This course provides an overview of the issue of postharvest loss of grains by exploring essential physical, technical, and social dimensions of postharvest supply chains and loss prevention methods globally.

Libramont Agricultural Fair
Libramont, Belgium, 22 - 25 July 2016
The event is primarily Belgian-focused, although the tendency recently has been towards some internationalization (EU). The theme of the Fair this year is the fight against food waste.