What happens to all the food that we cannot eat? That’s a question that we all here at Green Bike Tours ask ourselves. One third of all food produced world wide end up in the garbish cans – perfectly good and eatable food! How can we help change this behaviour and are there anyone doing something about this problem?
FOOD SHARING COPENHAGEN
Actually there are. In Copenhagen we find a lot of different approaches eg Foodsharing Copenhagen. The name actually already says it all. In this volunteer-run organisation, food is shared unconditionally – food that would be thrown away otherwise. The NGO organizes three events per week where all different kinds of ingredients find a new home.
All food is sorted and put on tables where attendees can then pick up their groceries for the week. And everyone who has done grocery shopping in Denmark knows how much money can be spent on buying food, so Foodsharing Copenhagen does not only help to prevent food waste, but also supports many students to afford living and eating in Denmark.
Our own green guide Aurelia is a food activist in Foodsharing Copenhagen which is also the place where she learned that most foodwaste occurs in our private homes. It happens when we cook too too much food and do not save the left overs for the next day. It happens when we forget that we bought a very special sauce for this one dinner – and never use it again. It happens because of bad meal planning, lack of knowledge whether food is still eatable or not. Food should be valued and not being thrown away, and there is so many good ways, so many great recipes to do that.
For this reason, we at Greenbiketours developed a cooking workshop where we learn to cook with surplus food that would be thrown away otherwise. We evaluate if food is still eatable, how to prepare a dish without having to buy special ingredients and most importantly, we come together for a nice dinner and share conversations with each other – because food is a highly social thing. And it would be a pitty if it just goes to waste. You can book groups from 12 and up to 20 people for a cooking class. It takes around 3 hours. Write to us if you are interested: info@greenbiketours.org
OTHER GREAT INITIATIVES
At the moment, also many other big organisations create initatives for reducing foodwaste. Bispebjerg Hospital for example, each day donates their leftovers to a homeless shelter. Also, the app “Too good to go” helps restaurants to sell their surplus. Customers choose their favourite pickup place and have the possibility to fill their hungry stomachs with delicious food. Another approach is Grim, which works in collaboration with local farmers. Customers can then pick up regional and seasonal vegetables which are too ugly for the supermarket.
We also have initiatives like Weefood, a supermarket that sells surplus food and groceries and thereby reduces food waste.
See foodsharing in action in one of their three events
Monday, 19:00 Christianshavn Beboerhus, Dronningensgade 34, 1420 København
Wednesday, 13:00 Karens Minde Kulturhus, Wagnersvej 19, 2450 København
Saturday, 13:00 Osramhuset, Valhalsgade 4, 2200 København
Pick up leftover food from restaurants every evening via www.toogoodtogo.dk
Order your weekly ugly vegetables via grim.dk