Cuidemos los alimentos (Food Care Programme) (Buenos Aires - Argentina)
The Food Care Programme “Cuidemos los alimentos” was created by the City of Buenos Aires with the aim of creating a sustainable food policy, reducing food waste, and promoting responsible consumption among citizens through the implementation of recycling initiatives and providing training in schools.
A study carried out by the City of Buenos Aires and the University of Bologna, with the support of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), determined the extension of the problem: the results show that each household in Buenos Aires produces an average of 8.4 kg of food waste per year (around 2.9 kg per citizen per year). In 2016, a total of 9,500 tonnes of food was wasted, which translates into a loss of around 2,830 million pesos.
At country level, the launch of the “Cuidemos los Alimentos” programme represents an active contribution to the National Network for the Reduction of Food Loss and Waste and the campaign “Valoremos los alimentos” (Let’s Value Food), promoted by the Ministry of Agroindustry of Argentina, which Buenos Aires integrates since 2016.
Some of the main causes of food waste in the city are similar to the scenarios in Spanish and Italian cities: expiration or loss of quality of the products, deficiencies in food storage and conservation, and finally, problems in food preparation.
To address these issues, a comprehensive action plan has been carried out by the city to promote sustainable food consumption patterns by raising awareness on the problem on four axes: organizing the kitchen, buying with conscience, reusing the food, and taking one’s leftovers home when eating out.
Sources:
http://www.buenosaires.gob.ar/noticias/la-ciudad-lanzo-el-programa-cuidemos-los-alimentos-0
Improved Education and Training.
Description of the specific objectives:
- Implementing a sustainable food policy;
- Raising awareness on food waste and changing food consumption habits.
City of Buenos Aires; Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).
Ensure that citizens adhere to the initiative to improve food consumption patterns and reduce food waste statistics in the city.
- Informative website of the Food Care Programme: http://www.buenosaires.gob.ar/alimentos;
- Training sessions for schools and for the gastronomic sector.
Training sessions in schools are being carried out, including workshops in primary schools on how to reduce waste within the framework of the Healthy School Programme. There is also a module on this topic in the virtual course for teachers and 63,000 copies of Mi Revista Saludable (which reaches more than 50,000 students and teachers) were distributed with tips to avoid food waste.
In the gastronomic sector, the city signed a collaboration agreement with AHRCC (Association of Hotels, Restaurants, Confectioneries and Cafés) and UTGHRA (Union of Tourism, Hotel and Gastronomic Workers of the Republic of Argentina), to implement the “Take It” pilot project: around 40 bars and restaurants in Buenos Aires will receive recyclable boxes (around 300 boxes will be distributed per month and per place) and training for their staff, to encourage customers to take their leftovers home. The project also includes the creation of a network of sustainable restaurants.
Citizens can access training and informative materials in the Healthy Stations and Green Points throughout the city, and in fairs and gastronomic events that take place in Buenos Aires.
- The Food Care Programme of the City of Buenos Aires won the seventh edition of the World Smart City Awards in the “Project” category, at the Smart City Expo World Congress 2017 Barcelona;
- In the last edition of the Feria Masticar (an annual fair organised by ACELGA – Association of Cooks and Argentinian Businessmen related to Argentinian Gastronomy), around 150,000 citizens approached the Food Care Programme’s booth to receive information;
- In total, the initiative reached more than 30,000 residents.