Every year in Italy, from the soil to the table, are wasted more than 5 million tons of food. A slap for 4.5 million poor, but an economic and environmental problem also. The analysis comes from the study day organized in Rome by the Greenaccord and Arsial Lazio associations.

Food waste is not just an ethical issue but it is a phenomenon that has a devastating impact on the environment, the economy and the global society.

Every year on the world's agro-industry will lose 1.3bn tons of food, from raw materials to processed products. A phenomenon that results in serious economic and environmental damage, over 800 million people and fed though not as much as 7% of global greenhouse gas emissions.
If you do not investigate in depth the many aspects of the phenomenon, you can hardly get to solve the problems it causes. The message comes from the study day "The food produced, appreciated, consumed, shared and that is not thrown away", promoted by the cultural association for environmental information Greenaccord Onlus in collaboration with Arsial (Regional Agency for Development and the ' innovation in Lazio) realized in Rome.
"It's time for a serious reflection on the value of reconquest, not only economic but also ethical and cultural food" says the president of Greenaccord, Alfonso Cauteruccio. "Not only the actors of the production chain and distribution chains but every family, especially us privileged residents in the rich world, is called to re-think their styles of consumption."
A theme, that the approach of the surplus with the need, also addressed by Antonio Rosati, CEO of Arsial (Regional Agency for Development and Innovation in Lazio), which launched a series of initiatives of the Lazio Region targeted food education, including 3 fellowships of 5 thousand euro to students of hotel schools, agricultural and high schools. "Distributing food to those who have none is a commitment that we must take against the 4.5 million poor people living in Italy. To do so - says Rosati - you have to change the way we consume every year sees us scatter over 5mln tons of food for a value of 12.6 billion euro. "

To provide global numbers and scenarios on food waste phenomenon was Marcela Villareal, Director Partnerships Division, promotional activities and development of the FAO, which reiterated the need for a cultural revolution: "From 1980 to 1990 the 44% of the world population lived in extreme poverty. Today it is 10%, in spite of this there are still 800 million people suffering from chronic hunger. " To combat these realities, he says the representative of FAO "serves to promote major social policies." According to a UN study of the organization "a third of the world's food is lost during the manufacturing process or wasted during the consummation. We are talking about 1.3 billion tons wasted or lost each year. A quantity equal to that which produces the food in Africa. " How to counter this data? "We need to achieve the commitments of Agenda 2030 - continues Villareal - involving the halving waste and the introduction of monitoring systems within countries".
Francesco Maria Ciancaleoni, environment area and the territory of Coldiretti, "food waste part of the broader issue of waste management and the role of agriculture is crucial to contribute to greenhouse gas reductions. In Italy the main responsibility in the consumption is seen that there are counted 54% of the losses", says the representative of Coldiretti. "An effective model is to close that provides for the rapprochement between producers and consumers. It is a model that brings tangible social and environmental benefits in terms of reduction of waste "

.