More than 250,000 support the fight against food waste
In the last few weeks, the Q-Meieri (Diaries) huge milk carton has adorned the cityscape outside Oslo Central Station. On the carton, one can support the fight against food waste. At the time of writing, 253,369 have pressed the fight against food waste button.
At the same time as the very first passers-by gave support to the fight, 12 industry organizations and 5 ministers signed an agreement to halve food waste in Norway by 2030 in line with The United Nations sustainability targets.
Common effort
Giant Milk Carton. Photo: Q-Meieri
Together with Matvett.no and Minister of Climate and Environment Vidar Helgesen leading the way, the parties have agreed on a joint effort all through the value chain. The agreement will provide increased knowledge of the extent and causes of food waste and contribute to the exchange of knowledge between the actors.
Q-boss Bent Myrdahl was the third person to press the food waste button, after Anne Marie Schrøder from Matvett and Mette Nygård Havre from “Finish the Food”, and he hopes that even more will do as they have done.
It’s amazing that more than 250,000 want to show that they care about a social problem that is not so well known at present, he says.
Myrdahl, who runs a dairy that has the strategy of always listening to consumers, already plans to move the carton to more cities so that even more can support the fight against food. The next town is Stavanger and this year’s ‘Glad Mat Festival’ (Happy Food). He hopes the “Siddis” will push as many times as the Oslo people have done!
Responsibility as food producer
The small challenger diary has had the struggle against food waste on the agenda for several years and has halved its own waste through a series of measures. At the same time, they see that very much of the dairy products ends in the garbage bin of the consumer.
– In this we have a responsibility as a food manufacturer. We have to make good products with good longevity while at the same time raising the knowledge that, for example, we should not only concentrate to the date tag, he says, pointing to the six-meter-high carton outside Oslo S, which is now being moved to Stavanger.
The message the Q boss wants is to “best before” not necessarily mean “bad after”. Therefore, Q-Meieriene is the first to mark the milk cartons accordingly. After pressure from Matvett and Mette Nygård Havre from the “Eat the food” campaign, the Q CEO has every month been reminded that this should be obvious. Therefore the slogan is now in place on the cartons.
Peoples action to reduce food waste
Push the button, Photo: Q-Meieri
With the Facebook page “Spis opp maten” , we try to create a popular movement to reduce food waste in Norway. It is therefore gratifying that the Q-Meieri listens to consumers and take the food waste seriously. Many consumers want to reduce their food waste, but they need some help to make it happen, says the enthusiast behind the initiative, Mette Nygård Havre.
She believes that the awareness campaign about food waste, such as the Q-meieri has done, is an excellent way of raising consumer awareness. The milk carton is present on most kitchen tables every day and now the sides on Q’s cartons are covered with information about food waste and recipes for leftovers.
– Remember that milk is not destined for the sink! All milk can be used. If it has gone sour then make waffles with it, says Nygård Havre.
355.000 ton in the bin
– We can not accept throwing away more than 355,000 ton of food in Norway today. Therefore, we have to make this the agenda so that every consumer, and not least the producers, can do what they can to halve the food waste in the next few years, says Anne Marie Schrøder, who, together with Myrdahl, is positive towards the signing of an industry agreement.
– We hope that even more follow our example and support the fight against food waste. More than 250,000 persons have pressed a button. It says a lot about what consumers expect of the future, says Myrdahl.
© Matvett.no / Norway Today
