Every Romanian throws away 129 kilograms of food per year, on average, including cooked food, fruits, vegetables, bakery products, dairy, meat, according to Cornel Hanganu, advisor within the government’s Department for Sustainable Development of Romania. The Government’s goal is to halve food waste per capita by 2030.

Hanganu explained that food waste is the result of people buying too much food. Some also store food incorrectly, or they ignore the expiration date.

“12% of the purchased food ends up in the garbage bin, but we’re still good because the EU average is almost double. The bigger the family, the more food is thrown in the trash,” Hanganu said, according to Digi24.

“A worrying phenomenon is that we have, on the one hand, malnutrition and food waste, but on the other hand 15% of the Romanian population is obese, which means that food education has shortcomings, people do not care about the quality and quantity of food,” he added.

In his turn, agriculture minister Adrian Oros said that the consumer’s education is very important when it comes to reducing food waste, but that the regulations and the activity of the dedicated institutions also play an essential role. 

“I rely on the involvement of authorities, research institutes, academia, and partners interested in this phenomenon. We at the Ministry of Agriculture, which should be primarily concerned with food security, are contributing to this topic. We will try to sound the alarm, to make agriculture more sustainable, to educate the consumer in preventing food waste and towards consumption of fresh and healthy products,” the minister said.

The United Nations General Assembly designated September 29 as the International Day of Awareness of Food Loss and Waste. On this occasion, in Romania was launched an information and awareness campaign on the major and long-term effects of food waste.

irina.marica@romania-insider.com

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