Luxembourg will today be taking part in World Food Day, through an apple distribution action from SOS Faim at the Gare Centrale to raise awareness of food waste.
World Food Day has been celebrated annually since 1979, following the creation of the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) on 16 October 1945. Across the world, hunger walks, food drives and other events are organised on this day with a view to bringing people together to reaffirm their commitment to eradicating the hunger experienced by one in nine people worldwide.
'Eradicating hunger' is one of the new UN ambitions outlined in the recent adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in New York last month. This will aim to rectify the needless imbalance between the 870 million people who suffer from hunger every day, and the 1.3 billion tons, or one-third, of the world's food which is thrown away each year.
In keeping with this, SOS Faim launched an action at the Gare in Luxembourg City, as part of its 'Changeons de Menu!' ('Let's change the menu!') campaign, to encourage better eating habits amongst the Luxembourg population and further afield.
As the autumn apple harvest begins, a significant proportion of the fruit is thrown away when it does not meet the size or aesthetic standards set by supermarkets. An estimated quarter of the ecological footprint of Luxembourg is due to its eating habits, making rethinking eating behaviour essential to avoid the human and enivronmental consequences.
The SOS Faim team was at the Gare Centrale this morning, to distribute apples from an orchard in Betzdorf, which have not received any form of chemical treatment. These were offered to passers-by by BioLetzbuerg.
Additionally, Luxembourg Minister of Agriculture, Viticulture and Consumer Protection, Fernand Etgen, yesterday called on his European colleagues to join the fight against the food waste problem, which incurs not only political, ethical or financial, but also ecological consequences.
The Minister continued by stating that increasing local production is useless if overall productivity in the entire food chain, from farm to fork, remains dire. Minister Etgen emphasised that the reduction of food waste and food loss would only be possible through coordinated efforts between governments, European and international institutions and private actors including producers, operators and consumers.
The Minister finished by pledging support, backed by the G20 and the European Commission, to any project which would reduce waste percentages and develop solutions to this major issue in the future of humanity and the planet.
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