How to Donate Leftover Food at Weddings and Parties

More than a third of it is wasted. Yet it's very easy to donate it to organizations that help the poor. You can even do so online.

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DONATE LEFTOVER FOOD –
Weddings, receptions, birthday parties or degree: every occasion is good to waste enormous quantities of foodYet it's very simple to avoid, especially on these occasions where waste seems inevitable and amounts to, imagine, more than a third of the dishes served to guests.
The greatest outrage of the food thrown away during the various holidays occurs with the weddings. Yet catering is a significant expense, so don't waste it. food It could mean, at the outset, a certain saving. But we know that with the weddings In Italy, no expense is spared, and so we take it for granted that a good portion of the menu, always very abundant, will end up in the garbage. So we need to start planning right from the start. wedding  the goal of donating the food remained. With this method:
  • Consider donating the food integral part of the organization of the wedding . Just as you make arrangements with the priest for the mass, with the catering service for the buffet, with a DJ for the music, so you have to contact and organize the gift of the food advanced. Live. The same day as wedding .
  • Start from your parish. This is certainly the first step on this path: the parish priest, if he cannot accommodate the food advanced In person, they'll be able to direct you to the right people. And waste is avoided.
  • Contact your nearest Caritas office. Caritas volunteers are undoubtedly the most active in this charitable service: call the office closest to the ceremony location and try to make arrangements with them.
  • Call the Community of Sant'Egidio. The Community of Sant'Egidio also performs an extraordinary service to give food to the poor, in their residences or on site, such as at train stations. Find the Community branch closest to your home and ask if they are willing to collect the food advancedYou can do the same thing with one of the soup kitchens in your area.
  • Food Bank. The largest and most widespread network in the area for donating food. food advanced And making sure it reaches the tables of families in need is definitely the Food Bank network. They're talented, generous, and very efficient.

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How to Donate Leftover Food at Parties

The mechanism is the same as the weddings, and it applies to any type of celebration. But in the case of a generic party, without all the frills of a wedding , you can do another simple and useful thing to donate the food. When you make the invitations, ask your guests, one by one, if they have any advice for giving the gift. food advancedYou will see that there will surely be someone who will give you the right solution.

Donation sites

The Internet offers many opportunities to donate food advanced to a wedding , or for any celebration. It's just a matter of clicking and getting in touch.
  • EquoventoIt is an organization, founded in 2013 in Rome, with the specific mission of recovering food advanced during weddings and receptions.
  • Foodbuster. Very active association to donate food in the Marche region in particular.
  • I don't throw awayIt is a local network, very active in Lombardy against waste. food.
  • Bari Social Food. This is a very active network in Puglia.
  • Caritas Italiana. The comprehensive and well-organized "Caritas Italiana" website allows you to easily navigate and locate the Caritas office closest to your wedding venue, region by region and province by province. Contact them and check their availability to pick up any leftover catering.

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The story of Norma and Horace

Weddings are almost always occasions for great feasting and often for great waste. Sometimes, however, it happens that those who enjoy the numerous and delicious dishes are not only relatives and friends, but also those who missed the celebrations and may be struggling. This is the case of Norma and Orazio, who decided to donate the leftover food from their wedding reception to the Paolo VI soup kitchen in Fasano, in the province of Brindisi. The two young people likely drew inspiration from the "Avanzi popolo" project, with which they collaborate, which has been working in Bari for several years to combat food waste by building channels of contact between the places where waste occurs (restaurants, large retailers, and even families) and those in need.

Reusing leftover food from the wedding allowed the Fasano soup kitchen to enrich the meals of the facility's residents for a few days . They thanked Norma and Orazio with numerous toasts and the classic "best wishes." The gesture was also greatly appreciated by the Caritas soup kitchen volunteers, who, on behalf of all those who frequent the center, donated handcrafted icons to the newlyweds.

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Food waste in Italy

Wasted dishes at weddings, parties, and receptions are a significant part of the scandalous food waste in Italy . This means that if we could prevent first courses, second courses, fruit, and desserts from ending up in the garbage on these occasions, we would have made an important contribution to reducing food waste in Italy.

The images in the text are taken from the Equoevento Facebook page

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