The food we need: the ACLI project in Rome with the recovery of 200 kilos of products

A highly effective format to combat food waste and provide concrete assistance to families in need. Over 2 participating merchants and six local branches.

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give bread to those who need it

In a year of lockdown, when any contact was really difficult, they were able to recover approximately 200 thousand kilograms of food, destined for waste, and to distribute it to those in need, starting from the poorest families in the working-class neighborhoods. The volunteers involved in the project The food that serves, created by the ACLI of Rome, is a very interesting format for combining the fight against food waste with concrete and effective solidarity.

THE FOOD YOU NEED

It all started with a first part of the project, Bread for those who need it, focused on bread and baked goodsAll the leftovers from the network of bread vendors connected to the ACLI Rome project are redistributed locally through volunteer associations that support poor families. After the bread, other foods have arrived. The numbers are very interesting: 130 kilograms of fruit and vegetables, 4 kilograms of cured meats, and over 2 boxes with chickens, sandwiches, and drinks.

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ACLI FOOD RECOVERY

The project mechanism The food you need It is simple but well structured in the territory. On the one hand there are 2 affiliated points of sale which take care of recovering food that would otherwise be wasted and delivering it to collection centers. In addition to the gesture of solidarity, there is also an advantage for these traders: the reduction of disposal costs.The products donated through the Il cibo che serve project would otherwise end up in the garbage, with costs that are instead eliminated.

ALSO READ: Solidarity stores have surpassed 200. So those who can't afford to shop can do so with dignity.

ACLI AGAINST FOOD WASTE

Once the food is delivered by the retailers, there is then the moment of collection and distribution which takes place through the mini-network of six territorial officesFrom here, the products end up in volunteer associations, all registered by ACLI, and then in individual families. The scope for growth for a project like Il cibo che serve is enormous. On the one hand, the format simply needs to be strengthened and made viable neighborhood by neighborhood and in other cities, with groups of affiliated merchants divided by area and multiplying community collection and distribution centers.

  • For example, parishes could be involved more frequently.
  • Second, the amount of food wasted because it's close to its expiration date is enormous, a bottomless pit. In Rome alone, where the "Il cibo che serve" project was born, 200 kilos of bread are wasted and end up in the garbage every day. And many organizations, starting with Caritas, spend thousands of euros to purchase bread to distribute to the poor they serve.

SAVE MONEY IN THE KITCHEN:

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