Agriculture Minister Istvan Nagy revealed at a press conference on saving food that a third of the food produced in the world is treated as food waste. In the European Union, about 90 million tons of food is lost each year, while in Hungary, 600,000 tons of food are lost in the entire Hungarian food chain.
The Minister emphasized that as of the spring of this year, the European Union has made it possible to provide products that have expired and are therefore not commercially available but fit for human consumption. This has greatly increased the amount of products that can be involved in food salvage, which makes it necessary to further develop the relevant redistribution system.
Reducing food waste and thus reducing food waste is in the public interest
Istvan Nagy confirmed.
According to the minister, the main goal is to raise 10,000 tons of food wasted so far in coordination from the new Food Rescue Centre. This can be helped by the Food Waste Prevention Act, which has two objectives: in addition to reducing commercial food waste, and distributing surplus quantities to those in need through charities.
Miklos Soltis, Minister of State for Church and Ethnic Relations in the Prime Minister’s Office, and Chair of the Charity Council, stated that Hungarian charities have been involved in the food rescue so far, but will be able to participate more in this work in the future. According to the Secretary of State, charities with national coverage and decades of experience will be able to deliver food rescue more efficiently in the future, MTI.
(Cover Image: Marilyn Awad/Bloomberg/Getty Images)
