Milan Is Helping People and the Planet With Its Mission To Cut Food Waste in Half

Summary:

Milan has opened three solidarity supermarkets, known as Food Waste Hubs, as part of its efforts to reduce food waste and improve sustainability in its food system. The supermarkets, which are run by NGO Terre des Hommes Italy, collect excess food from local supermarkets and businesses and give it to hundreds of families in need, as well as providing social services such as legal aid, psychological counselling, language classes and childcare support. The School of Management at the Politecnico di Milano found that the hubs each recover around 130 metric tons of food per year – equivalent to 260,000 meals – and avoid the production and disposal of 497 metric tons of CO2 per year. The hubs are also using 30% of food that would have otherwise gone to waste, compared with the national average of 9%.