The Càritas food bank performs both a social and ecological function, helping 110 families this year
Andorra la Vella - Source "Ara.ad"
This past Tuesday, the Food Banc has informed on how its double objective is to on one hand help families and on the other reduce the waste of food. This has been done during an open day that has taken place for the European Week for Waste Reduction and during which it was visited by the Tourism and Environment Minister, Francesc Camp, the Environment Director, Marc Rossell, and the coordinator of Sustainable Andorra (Andorra Sostenible), Javi Gómez.
During the event it was pointed out that the European Union has 89 million tonnes of food surplus and that a third of the food produced in the world is lost or wasted. In Andorra though, there has not been a calculation of how much of the 12.000 tonnes a year of organic material that arrives at the Waste Treatment Center (Centre de Tractament de Residus) are foodstuff that has been wasted.
What was mentioned is what the Food Bank is doing to reduce this problem. Of the 17.329 Kg of foodstuff and hygiene products that were handed out from January to August, 8.400 were food surplus, that is, products with a short “consume by” date or with defects to the packaging and therefore not suitable for sale but fine to consume. The rest of the handouts came from other entities or donations by individuals.
As for the social side, those in charge of the Food Bank have explained that, since changing location in October 2013, there has been the will to “dignify the donation of foodstuff” making the space and the way it works, similar to a supermarket. Furthermore, they count of volunteers that help the families and translate or read out the necessary information to them. They also help the users to follow a healthy and balanced diet.
Products with a shorter “consume by” date are prioritised so that none is wasted. Therefore, if they ever receive a large quantity of one product, they will also try to distribute them via other social entities such as Aina, l’Escola de Meritxell or the Dames de Meritxell.
