The Food-Waste-Free Week 2022 is an initiative by the foundation Food Waste Free United.
Creative with leftovers
Nobody wants to waste food. You can prevent a lot of waste by getting creative with leftovers at home. If everyone contributes, we can achieve great results for our climate together. You could store leftovers on a designated shelf in your fridge to help you remember to use them. Or cook exact amounts by measuring or weighing your rice, for example. That way, you will have fewer leftovers.On Wageningen Campus, we also aim to waste as little food as possible. In the week from 12 to 18 September, catering services at Wageningen Campus will add #foodwastefree to the menu. Waste-free products and menu options will be available at the buildings Aurora, Impulse, Omnia, Forum and Orion. Moreover, the caterers will demonstrate how they collaborate with partners such as Orbisk, Foodsharing and Too Good To Go.Programme Food-Waste-Free Week Different foodwaste-free dishes will be highlighted in these locations every day of the week. Examples include banana bread made from overly ripe bananas, bread pudding made from leftover bread or a soup prepared from the discarded butts and tops of vegetables. Food-Waste-free soup will be served every day of the week and can be sampled for free on Thursday. This soup is produced by the Waste factory, which aims to comprehensively address the enormous waste of fresh vegetable waste streams. The factory salvages these vegetables and turns them into tasty soups, sauces and stews. The workers in the factory have labour disabilities and are therefore distanced from the employment market.
Additionally, the daily menu will feature the Zwamcijsje (a vegetarian alternative to the typically Dutch sausage roll) made by Wageningen start-up UmaMeats. Zwamcijsje is an excellent example of circular food, with less waste and locally sourced ingredients. Every year, approximately one-third of all farmland is sown with grain, for bread, among other things. However, more than half of the grain consists of straw, which is frequently left behind in the fields. Mushrooms thrive on straw and convert it into vitamin, mineral and protein-rich mushrooms. That way, no straw is wasted.
There will be a demonstration of the Orbisk automated food waste monitor. Orbisk helps professional kitchens get a grip on their food waste by measuring and classifying the discarded food and recording the amount and time of day.
How do WUR and Wageningen Campus act against food waste? ’There is still much work to be done and many opportunities we can seize’, says Sanne Stroosnijder, programme manager of Food Loss and Waste Prevention and a member of the Food Waste Free United core team.
’The fact that all involved parties on Wageningen Campus are joining the Food-Waste Free Week this year is a step in the right direction. This way, we involve our students and employees in this key issue in the transition towards a sustainable, circular economy. We are also eager to discuss this issue with all actors on the campus. This year, we have already been invited to Unilever’s Foods Innovation Centre Hive , but next year we hope to involve even more campus residents.’