Food losses and waste was at the heart of discussions at the European Union Agriculture and Fisheries Council held on Tuesday in Luxembourg.
"Substantially decreasing food losses and waste is certainly important for Member States, given the challenge handed to us to feed a growing world population whilst developing a more responsible management of our precious resources!" commented Luxembourg Minister of Agriculture, Viticulture and Consumer Protection, Fernand Etgen, who was present at the Council.
The topic has certainly been on the minds of the Luxembourg population of late, with a petition submitted to the Chamber of Deputies' website proposing a legal framework to simultaneously combat food waste and social inequality. The petition has so far amassed nearly 2,000 online signatures.
Today, the largest margin and the greatest potential for improvement in food management to avoid waste is linked to the final consumer and the end user. Therefore, platforms aimed at promoting better awareness and information and at exchanging best practices or action plans have been highlighted as the first step towards effective progress in this regard.
Organisations in the Grand Duchy, have made the dissemination of such information the objective of their projects, with SOS Faim launching its "Changeons de Menu!" campaign to distribute apples and hold targeted cooking workshops in a bid to educate the public on food waste.
Luxembourg Minister Fernand Etgen has also cited the topic as close to his heart and a conference entitled "Together against Food Waste" ("Ensemble contre le gaspillage alimentaire") will be held by the Ministry of Agriculture, Viticulture and Consumer Protection on 27 October 2016.
Regarding the subject of plant protection, the Presidency finally adopted conclusions from the expert group regarding the implementation of the plan for a sustainable approach to plant production.
Photo by MAVPC
