Building Community:
A Creative Alternative to reduce Danish food waste
Denmark is known globally for many things, from being one of the happiest countries in the world to being the manufacturer of everyone’s beloved Legos. However, beyond the Hygge and all the beer and coffee consumption, Danish are also known for being the worst when it comes to waste prevention. As found by a survey conducted by Eurostat, every person generates as much as 845 kilos of waste every year. In 2021, that meant a total of 374, 938 tonnes just on food waste coming from households and different industries. As much as Denmark takes pride in being the second best at handling this massive amount of waste, it still is the country that produces more waste per capita than any other country in the European Union.
But if there is something Danish are also good at is creating community: “social responsibility and a willingness to collaborate have put Denmark ahead on sustainability”, claimed The Guardian a decade ago, and actions towards reducing food waste in the private sphere confirm that.
At the government level, action has been consistently taken by authorities since 2016. This has looked like changing the information on expiration date labels in 2016 to launch September 29 as the National Day of Food Waste to reduce food waste in 2020. The results, however, are not reducing waste significantly or the perception of individuals about food waste prevention practices.
The Date Stamps 2020, a report by the National Center for Food and Agriculture, found that while the change in labels has helped prevent food waste in Danish households, the lack of communication strategies is getting in the way of a better understanding of how to dispose of expired goods.
According to the report, 65% of respondents stated that they almost always check the date label before throwing away food, while 56% said they almost always check the date on a product before buying it. Explanatory labeling matters. However, the findings also showed that consumers are not keen on having more symbols or labels on their food, instead, they felt that the meaning of the date labels should be communicated through campaigns on social media, product packaging, or using apps. This is yet to be seen. Instead, in 2022, a new label was released by The Danish Ministry of Food, Agriculture, and Fisheries to promote climate-friendly food production and help shoppers make “green” choices when buying food.
Even as citizens in Denmark are concerned about food waste and climate change, food continues to be thrown in garbage containers in amounts that are enough not only for dumpster divers to skip grocery shopping but also to prepare meals for parties of up to 10 people in community kitchens. The meat they sometimes found there is sometimes still packed in sealed boxes, which means that was never offered for purchase. Small and private initiatives are trying to tackle this issue by becoming partners with supermarkets and bakeries that donate their surplus to turn that waste into meals: from daily lunch at the Skraldecaféen, eight-week meal plans from Det Kærlige Måltid, to the trendy dare to Eat Waste in Copenhagen. Their stories show that more can be done, but that willingness to change misconceptions about waste food is not a Sisyphus tale. Creativity over quantity is key.
Read MOre :
