The World Sustainable Urban Food Centre of València (CEMAS) and the European Food Information Council (EUFIC) jointly held an international conference with world experts on food waste on Tuesday 8 October. The high-level event, titled “Capacity building for food loss and waste prevention and reduction in cities”, is framed in the events program of València European Green Capital 2024.
In his opening speech, CEMAS president Carlos Mundina explained that while tonnes of food are wasted every day, 800 million suffer from hunger in the world. Mundina noted that València is at the forefront of green policies in the Mediterranean, referring to the European Green Capital award held by the city this year. For the president, food waste is a challenge to overcome, and the event marked the beginning of new alliances, initiatives, and projects to achieve a fairer, healthier and more sustainable future.
EUFIC director Laura Fernández, the institution that co-organised the event, explained that her organisation aims to empower people to reduce food waste, especially consumers, where most food loss is concentrated. Fernández explained that food waste is an economic loss and an environmental threat that implies a moral and ethical dilemma.
Analysis of food waste in Europe and exchange of experiences in exemplary cities
The first plenary session began after the opening statements by CEMAS president Carlos Mundina and EUFIC director Laura Fernandez. In this first meeting, European Commission experts such as Policy Officer Cristina Lisetchi and JRC Food Waste Project Officer Valeria de Laurentiis, with European Green Capital 2024 in València director Antonio García, analysed the European framework of food loss and waste.
Next, it was the turn of European cities’ spokespersons: Cagliari, Warsaw, Milan, Courbevoie and Gothenburg presented their exemplary urban policies to fight food loss. Following the exchange of experiences, the chief officer for economic affairs at the UN Liliana Annovazzi-Jakab presented the app NaturEaTown (NET), which seeks to facilitate the management of food supply chains for local administrations.
In the afternoon, participants were divided into three working groups to discuss and analyse issues related to the capacity of cities to tackle food waste. The complete day can be watched on the CEMAS Youtube channel.