The Italian government has
overwhelmingly backed a new set of laws aimed at cutting down the vast
amounts of food wasted in the
country each year, as per a report by Jess Staufenberg of Independent UK.
A bill passed by 181 Senators will encourage families to use “doggy
bags” to take home unfinished food after eating out and removes hurdles
for farmers and supermarkets seeking to donate food to charity.
The goal to cut the
five million tonnes of food wasted every year by at least one million tonnes
was only opposed by two Senators and abstained from by one when put to a
vote in Italy's upper house on 2 August.
Ministers have said that food
waste is costing Italy’s business and households more than €12 billion (£10
billion) a year, or about one percent of GDP.
And since the country
has a public debt of 135 per cent — a figure which has increased by a fifth
since 2003 — and an unemployment rate of an estimated 20 per cent with millions
of Italians in poverty, the levels of food waste are considered unjustifiable.
Indeed, Italy’s
highest court ruled only three months ago that stealing small amounts of food
because of hunger was not a crime.
The new laws seek to make donating food easier by allowing businesses to
record donations in a simple form every month, according to La
Republica. Sanctions for giving away food past its sell-by date have been
removed, and business owners will pay less waste tax the more they donate.
Farmers will also be
able to donate unsold produce to charities without incurring extra costs.
Innovative ways to
store foods in transit to prevent rotting and lengthen their life on the shelf,
as well as a public campaign about food waste, will also be developed
with a €1m grant from the agricultural ministry.
Another €1m will
back a “doggy bag” campaign, in which families will be encouraged to take
home unfinished food home after a regional pilot scheme proved a success.
The UN Food and Agricultural
Organization (FAO) have said 40 per cent of all food is wasted across Europe.
World-wide, the figure is lower at one third.
“The food currently wasted in Europe could feed 200 million people,”
said the FAO. Similar measures have been passed elsewhere, albeit with a more
punitive bent. French supermarket owners now face fines of up to
€75,000 (£62,800) if they do not sign contracts with food donation
charities
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