VET LOVES FOOD – Newsletter n.2 (March 2023)

Towards Project Result 2

Being our main aim bringing awareness to the challenges that our food systems cause, the Project Result 2 focuses on the creation of a manual for food professionals and trainers

The manual will be potentially exploitable by any citizen interested in the topic of reducing food waste while giving new life to traditional recipes, following a farm-to-fork approach. VET providers’ contribution in this matter is crucial: in this way, they can enhance the culture of food waste prevention and develop new positive behaviors.

But this can also be achieved through constant dialogues and cooperation with stakeholders from the food value chain, being a key piece in the fight against food waste.

Additionally, the use of a web-based application for food waste monitoring will help to make better use of local products from a food waste prevention perspective.    


Next steps

The next steps, foreseen by the Project result 2, are:

  • Transfer and capitalization of innovative practices to track food waste.
  • Drafting of the manual.
  • Planning and promoting awareness initiatives on Food Waste Prevention and Food Waste Management.

2nd Transnational Meeting in Matosinhos

The VET LOVES FOOD 2nd Transnational Meeting took place in Matosinhos, Portugal, the 24th and 25th November 2022. The face-to-face event brought some insight among all the partners about the next steps to be taken and arrangements for the different tasks of the partners in order to ensure the attainment of the objectives and results.


The VET LOVES FOOD Manifesto

If you want to know more about the VET LOVES FOOD objectives and its main purpose you can check now the new Manifesto, which includes: the reasons of why it is so important to reduce food waste and its impact, what is wanted to be achieved as well as the priorities, and how people in different parts of the chain can help to solve this issue.

 Check the VET LOVES FOOD Manifesto


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VET LOVES FOOD EDUCATIONAL DINNER! 31.03.2023

Last 31st of March, CEPROF offered an Educational Dinner in the frame of the VET LOVES FOOD Project, aimed at raising awareness against food waste through innovation in VET.

During such a lovely event, which took place in CEPROF’s facilities, the following menu was cooked and served by the students:

Couvert:

– Lupin humus with potato peel chips and naan bread

– Seasonal vegetables patanisca

Starters:

Green pea cream soup with crispy bacon

Main course:

Chickpea burger with broccoli and spices sauce (the sauce is made out of the broccoli boiling water) roasted potato (with peel) and seasonal vegetables (pumpkin, broccoli and broad beans)

Dessert:

Bread pudding (can be made with bread leftovers) with orange cream (seasonal fruit).

During the event, attended by more than 40 people, the VET LOVES FOOD Project, was presented, along with its recently created Manifesto.

Here we leave you a great video of the preparation of the menu for the dinner! Don’t miss it!

We want to thank CEPROF, in the name of the whole consortium, for their excellent work raising awareness on food waste prevention and presenting the VET LOVES FOOD objectives, for a greener and more sustainable world!

Do you want to know more about the VET LOVES FOOD path? Visit our website and subscribe our Manifesto! Take the leap and be part of the change!

Stay tuned for more news about the VET LOVES FOOD Project!

WASTE HIERARCHY FOR FOOD

In this short article we will introduce the main hierarchy to prevent food waste and the different options you can use before food disposal, ordered from the most preferable option to the least preferable option.

  1. PREVENTION
  • Avoid surplus food generation throughout food production and consumption.
  • Prevent food waste generation throughout the food supply chain.
  1. RE-USE (human consumption)
  • Re-use surplus food for human consumption through redistribution networks and food banks while respecting safety and hygiene norms.
  1. RE-USE (animal feed)
  • Feed use of certain food no longer intended for human consumption following European Commission guidelines.
  1. REUSE (by-products) / RECYCLE (food waste)
  • Revalorise by-products from food processing and food waste into added-value products by processes that keep the high value of the molecule bonds of the material.
  1. RECYCLE (nutrients recovery)
  • Recovery of substances contained in food waste for low added-value uses such as composting, digestate from anaerobic digestion, among others.
  1. RECOVERY (energy)
  • Incineration of food waste with energy recovery.
  1. DISPOSAL
  • Waste incinerated without energy recovery.
  • Waste sent to landfill.
  • Waste ingredient/product for sewage disposal.

Learn more about this: https://food.ec.europa.eu/safety/food-waste/eu-actions-against-food-waste/food-waste-measurement_en

Webinar VET Loves FOOD, official launch!

Last Thursday 20th of October we hosted our first webinar to launch the VET LOVES FOOD Project to our growing community.

Lucrezia Palladini, European Project Manager (CECE) and coordinating partner, presented the main objectives, results and impact of the project. Her presentation encompassed the “soul”, values and drivers behind the VET LOVES FOOD Project.

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We counted on the presence of two partners of the project as speakers:

  • Igor Ozamiz, head of kitchen of the Higher School of Hospitality of Bilbao (ESHBI). He gave us a very interesting approach to how the HORECA sector is being transformed and must be transformed to meet the needs of a world in which food waste is a reality on a daily basis. Under the motto of “producing more with less”, Igor showed the participants a selection of products made entirely of food waste, which made us reconsider the numerous ways to avoid producing food waste in a very simple way.
  • Stefano Tirati, CEO of Learning Digital, not only explained the functioning of the VET LOVES FOOD Platform, but also encouraged the participants of the webinar to register by giving solid reasons why they should engage in our fight against food waste and be part of the VET LOVES community.
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We are very grateful for having those great speakers and partners and an amazing public.

All the participants have already decided to be part of the change to make the world more sustainable.

Thank you for making the first steps for the consolidation of the VET LOVES FOOD community!

Now is your turn. Join our community. Be part of the change!

Rethink, Reduce, Reuse: VET LOVES FOOD and its mission

Did you know that our food systems today account for nearly one-third of global GHG emissions and consume large amounts of natural resources? Not only does this issue result in biodiversity losses and health impacts, but also do not allow fair economic returns and livelihoods for all actors and primary producers.

With regard to food waste, did you know that the 20% of total food produced is lost or wasted?

According to the European Commission:

  • 8-10% of global greenhouse gas emissions are generated by food that goes wasted.
  • 36.2 million people cannot afford a quality meal every second day.
  • Nearly 30% of the world’s agricultural land is occupied to produce food that is never consumed.

To fight against climate change, VET LOVES FOOD project was born with the aim to support awareness-raising about environmental and climate-change challenges through the development of green skills. In the end, food-waste is an environmental concern: from 6% to 8% of all human-caused greenhouse gas emissions could be reduced if we stop wasting food.

Officially launched the 28th February 2022, the project focuses on activating more sustainable individual preferences, consumption habits, and lifestyles regarding food waste: how?

Pushing through innovative model practices to prepare learners, staff, and students to become true agents of change regarding food waste.

Get involved staying tuned with project’ updates and be part of the change!