Italian citizens throw away 100 grams of food a day. To feed the world's growing population, we will need to rely on innovative foods and new cultivation techniques. We discuss this on the occasion of the Food Waste Prevention Day.
Almost 16 billion euros end up in the bin every year. This is the value of the food we waste in Italy, from agriculture to industry, from distribution to restaurants, right through to our tables. Supermarkets throw away 18.8 kilograms of food per square metre of selling space per year, while citizens waste 100.1 grams every day – mostly vegetables.
This is why 5 February is the Food Waste Prevention Day. Established in 2013 by the Ministry of the Environment, it aims to reduce waste both through prevention and through solutions that allow food to be recovered before it is thrown away. It is also an opportunity to raise awareness of the sustainable use of resources: water, soil and energy.
Producing food has a considerable environmental impact — from deforestation and the indiscriminate exploitation of land to the pesticides used in agriculture and the pollution caused by intensive livestock farming. According to a study by the Fao, one third of greenhouse gas emissions is caused by our food production model. This is the subject of the Presadiretta episode broadcast on Monday 5 February 2018, entitled "La rivoluzione agricola".
A genuine revolution is, in fact, what we need. Presadiretta took viewers on a journey to discover the foods of the future – insects, algae, jellyfish – and innovations in the food sector, including hydroponic greenhouses, where vegetables are grown without conventional agricultural soil, which is replaced by expanded clay, coconut fibre, rock wool or zeolite.
Listen to "01 // 01 // Tanti grilli per la testa" on Spreaker.
The footage also shows the reality of the Po Valley, where the greatest concentration of intensive livestock farms and agricultural businesses in Italy is found, to discover what happens to the tonnes of excrement that animals produce every year. The testimonies collected warn us about the damage we have caused by altering the processes that underpin life on earth.
We are close to the point of no return, but in a survey by the Waste Watcher observatory, 81 per cent of Italian citizens declared themselves aware that change must begin first and foremost within their own family, starting from everyday behaviour, through smarter shopping that limits waste and a healthier, more conscious diet that is good not only for the body but also for the environment.
La rivoluzione agricola is a report by Riccardo Iacona with Elena Stramentinoli, Fabrizio Lazzaretti, Marianna De Marzi. It was broadcast on Presadiretta on Monday 5 February 2018 at 21:20 on Raitre. You can watch the episode again here.