"Do not ever doubt that a small group of conscious and committed people could change the world. It is precisely how it has always happened"
(Margaret Mead)
The fight against food waste has already started without our noticing it. On every continent, in every nation already there is a flurry of creativity, a multitude of local initiatives, of attempts, of collective efforts. Even so, everything that should be connected is dispersed, separated, compartmentalized. These initiatives do not know each other; no administration makes the inventory, no one search, census and compares them. We want to start doing it with the hope that these might become "collective practices."
Instead of producing garbage ... let’s learn how to avoid it
Food is precious 
(Austria)
Initiative of the Austrian Ministry of Agricultural, Forestry, Environmental and Water Management policies, which aims to gradually reduce the amount of food waste, to reach the target of 20% reduction by 2016. For this purpose there are initiatives to raise awareness in schools and projects in cooperation with institutional partners.
Save Food 
(Deutschland)
Initiative promoted by the Messe Düsseldorf Group, in close collaboration with the FAO, aims at favouring a confrontation among industry, research, politics and civil society on the topic of food waste.
Aprovechemos la comida! 
(España)
Guide produced by the UAB and the Fundación Alicia in collaboration with the Generalitat de Catalunya for food waste prevention within the catering and hotel industry.
Manger c'est bien, jeter ça craint! 
(France)
Campaign to raise awareness on the topic food waste, created by the Ministry for agricultural, food industry and Forestry policies of the French government.
Gaspillage alimentaire: prêt(e) à changer vos habitudes? (France)
Four videos produced by the Région Ile-de-France, whose main characters are some very special actors as special protagonists "Les poubelles boulimiques anonymes." The film, set in a meeting room for therapy groups, tell us about the difficulties that the protagonists meet in four places symbol of food waste: homes, school cafeterias, restaurants, supermarkets.
The goal is to stimulate a change in bad habits, proposing solutions such as: the use of doggy bags, the knowledge of the meaning of labelling, the avoidance of exagerated purchases of food, freezing and reusing leftovers.
Guide ai diritti – Sprechi alimentari 
(Italia)
This guide has been made by the Chamber of Commerce of Turin, which helps consumers to make mindful food choices and to prevent food waste.
Io mangio tutto. No al cibo nella spazzatura! (Italia)
Awareness campaign sponsored by Action Aid, aimed for primary school pupils. Through play, the project addresses the issue of hunger in the world by connecting it to the one of food waste in Italy, in order to promote good practices and conscious citizenship among children.
Last Minute Sotto Casa (Italia)
Web platform that allows retailers to avoid wasting food that remains unsold at the end of the day and to save customers money.
Simply register on the initiative site to receive, directly on your smartphone, offers from the grocery stores in your neighbourhood.
Fruta Feia 
(Portugal)
In Lisbon, the consumer cooperative Fruta Feia buy the products discarded from the market, because imperfect and not calibrated, and resells them to its members at an affordable price.
Save Food from the Fridge 
(South Korea)
Project, carried out by a Korean designer, focused on the proper food storage without the use of modern technologies. It is interesting blog where you can find useful advice.
Food We Want 
(UE)
Awareness campaign, funded by the European Union, which aims to promote family farming and sustainable agro-food systems as a key solution to defeating hunger, fighting poverty and combat climate change.
Courtland Commitment 
(United Kingdom)
Voluntary agreement, funded by the governments of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, which has been signed by all the major grocery stores in the UK. The agreement aims at improving the use of resources and reducing waste in the food industry.
For example, the supermarket chain Asda has lengthened the shelf life of food products, optimizing transportation and storage.
Still Tasty 
(USA)
Tips, trivia and information about proper food storage.
It's 'a particularly authoritative guide because it uses data from US government agencies and non-profit organizations that are concerned with the preservation and food safety.
Food Loop (Deutschland)
An App developed in Germany, which provides you in real time of reduced food close to the best-before date at your local supermarkets. You set the offer criteria for your favourite products and supermarkets.
Orange Fiber (Italia)
Orange Fiber is a startup that develops innovative and vitamin yarns from citrus fruits. The goal is to create a sustainable and cosmetic tissue reusing the waste produced by the industry of Italian citrus processing.
Instead of producing garbage ... let’s feed the poor
City of Herstal 
(Belgique)
In Belgium, the City of Herstal has introduced a new rule that imposes to the 12 supermarkets in the city to donate the still edible unsold products to charities that redistribute them among needy people. The rule binds the releasing or renewal of environmental licence to the donation of their unsold goods. Other towns, such as Namur have decided to follow this example.
Zero desperdício (España)
The project consists in recovering from supermarkets, restaurants and canteens food products that, although still perfectly edible, are usually destined to end up in the trash and in organizing their distribution in favour of those who need them.
Eqosphere (France)
Online platform aimed at optimizing and developing the activities of recovery of food surpluses and not, favouring the contact between supermarkets, retail stores, manufacturers and restaurateurs on the one hand, and humanitarian and charitable organizations on the other.
Social market (Italia)
Initiative of Eumeo social Cooperative with the support of the Province of Parma, of Cariparma Foundation and the City of Parma. Each day, the Eumaeus Cooperative collects, from the stores participating in the project, no longer sellable food products (for packaging defects or because close to their expiration) and redistributes them immediately to the charities active in the city of Parma which take care of needy people.
Refood (Portugal)
Project created to defeat food waste, helping people in need, and transforming Lisbon in the first zero-waste European city. Hundreds of volunteers by bicycle recover the excess food from grocery stores, supermarkets and from the homes of private citizens and distribute it among the welfare associations assisting the poor.
Food Recovery Network (USA)
Project of fight against food waste spread through different American high schools and universities, that consists in the collection, by student volunteers, of uneaten food from school canteens and in its redistribution in favour of needy people.
Global FoodBanking Network (USA)
No-profit organization that, in order to contribute to the fight against world hunger, has created and supports the network of food banks around the world operating at the local level.
Equoevento onlus (Italia)
"Equoevento" is a non-profit organization that recovers surplus food from events and redistributes it to charities and persons in need.
Instead of producing garbage... let’s share food
Foodsharing.de (Deutschland)
Platform that provides citizens, traders and producers the opportunity to collect and provide to others the excess food. ‘Foodsharing’ is also an opportunity to meet other people and cook together the food that would, otherwise, be thrown away.
Next Door Help (Italia)
Project created to combat domestic waste and encourage the re-use and sharing of food. It is an online platform where, once registered, thanks to a geolocator, it is possible to contact other users in order to exchange food and unused objects in a simple and fast way.
Casserole Club (United Kingdom)
Project designed to promote the sharing of foods prepared at home with neighbours and with people who cannot cook for themselves.
Saa syödä! 
(Suomi)
"Saa syödä!", Literally "license to eat", is a project sponsored by the Finnish Ministry for the Environment and promoted by some private companies. The initiative is the creation, in the district of Helsinki Roihuvuori, of a common collection point where every family in the neighbourhood is invited to bring still edible, but close to expiry food, so that neighbours can still make use of intact leftovers that would otherwise be thrown away.
Food Swap Network (USA)
Events through which members of a community share food cooked in their homes, thus promoting exchanges among participants.
Avanzi popolo (Italia)
A project for the recovery of surplus food: it’s a virtual platform where you can signal the availability of surplus food, and it’s also a traveling food store that redistributes to people in financial difficulty the recovered food.
Ratatouille – App (Italia)
Virtual refrigerator in which you can indicate the excess products that you want to donate. The goal is to exchange the excess food with your neighbours, thanks to instant messaging.
S-Cambia Cibo (Italia)
A virtual collective pantry where everyone (individuals, companies, associations) can take or leave food with high risk of waste shared on the platform.
MyFoody (Italia)
An e-commerce platform against food waste that networks small and big distribution, wholesaler and catering, to sell good and perfectly edible products at discounted prices, close to expiration date or with aesthetic packaging defects.
Olio (United Kingdom)
OLIO is a free application that connects London between their people, local shops and dining options and allows the exchange of still edible food surpluses.
Instead of producing garbage ... the virtuous supermarkets
The People's Supermarket (United Kingdom)
A London supermarket, established as a social enterprise and has created, among the many initiatives inspired by sustainable trade, the People's Kitchen, a restaurant where you can eat no more sellable, but still safe and edible food for free.
Fruits et Légumes Moches (France)
An awareness campaign against food waste promoted by the French Monoprix supermarket.
The Daily Table 
(USA)
At Dorchester neighborhood of Boston, was born The Daily Table, a non profit retail store that extends the life of products close to expiration date recovering them from other supermarkets and selling them at low costs.
Wefood 
(Denmark)
In Copenhagen, the first supermarket against food waste that sells food products that have exceeded the expiration date or with damaged packaging. Created by the Danish NGO Folkekirkens Nødhjælp, will be run by volunteers and proceeds from sales will be donated to DanChurchAid.
Instead of producing garbage ... the virtuous restaurants
Rub&Stub 
(Danmark)
A restaurant in Copenhagen run by volunteers preparing dishes using only food close to expiry, offering a menu that varies depending on the food available.
Culinary Misfits (Deutschland)
This is the ironic and evocative name (misfit refers to something or someone both "freaky" and "not suitable") chosen for the first catering service, located in the heart of Berlin, which only uses ingredients discarded by supermarkets or restaurants because of their non-standardized shape or size.
Buta Stupa (Italia)
"Buta Stupa", than in Piedmontese (i.e. typical of Piedmont region) dialect means "opened bottle", is the name of a marketing project addressed to restaurant owners whose purpose is to give to the customer the bottle of wine he entirely paid for but consumed only in part.
Eco-ristoranti (Italia)
Initiative by Co.Va.R. 14 Consortium, which promotes a new way of dining: each Eco-Restaurant is aware of the problems of excessive waste and food waste. It creates a virtuous circle of "good practices" through actions aimed at reducing waste, which also involve customers.
L'autostrada e la natura (Italia)
An experimentation hub promoted by WWF Italy and Autogrill (a motorway restaurants chain) in some motorway service areas at the entrance of Milan, involves the development of an integrated supply chain through which organic waste will be turned into compost to be used to "feed" a vegetable garden inside the 'WWF oasis of Vanzago Wood.
Il buono che avanza (Italia)
Ri-gustami a casa: col tuo cibo riempi il frigo non il cestino (Italia)
The restaurants participating to these initiatives, promoted respectively by the Councillor’s Office for the Environment of the Province of Rimini (Eco-pan), by Friendship Dinner Onlus (The Good advancing) and by the Autonomous Province of Trento (Re-taste me at home : with your food fill the fridge not the trash bin), give their customers the opportunity to take home, in a safe and hygienic way, any leftover food from the meal consumed.
Food for good (United Kingdom)
"Ethical" catering service that makes delicious dishes using food discarded from the London markets because of small aesthetic imperfections.
InStock 
(Nederlands)
An Amsterdam restaurant creates its own menu with products that would otherwise be wasted. Waste is collected from local suppliers that have a surplus of unsold food.
https://www.slowfood.de/wirueberuns/slowfoodyouth/was-wir-tun/schnippeldisko
Instead of producing garbage ... happening!
Eating City - La città che mangia (Italia)
Over 3,000 meals distributed and thousands of participants to the great collective free lunch, made in Turin with the leftovers from the commercial distribution, accompanied by testimonies and investigations on the fight against food waste.
Schnippeldisko (Deutschland)
Event born in Berlin, from the initiative of the young people network of Slow Food - Germany, which is spreading all over the world. It has already reached more than 70 cities, from San Paolo in Brazil (Disco Xepa) in New York City (Disc Soup), Madrid (Disco Sopa) to Namyangju in South Korea (Yori Gamu), from Rotterdam (Disco Soep) to Barcelona (Disco Soupe), from Brussels (Disco Soupe) to Marseille (Soupe APERO Disco) ...
After collecting large quantities of discarded food from local markets, young people, adults and children gather to peel the vegetables to the sound of music, and in doing so turn the waste in mega soups and salads that are distributed to the public.
United against food waste (UE)
It's 'the largest Danish event against food waste, carried out in Copenhagen and promoted by Fusions (the most important association against food waste in the world), consisting of a great popular festival that has hosted in the last edition more than 6000 participants.
Feeding the 5000 (United Kingdom)
Campaign born in London, already realized in Paris, Amsterdam and Dublin, which has as its main event the distribution of thousands of free meals prepared using fresh ingredients intended for the trash bin.
