Conference “Food Waste at Home & Ways to Address It” in Vilnius

International conference, April 10, 2018, Vilnius, Lithuania”In Europe, about 100 million tonnes of food are wasted annually. Which of the following actors do you think have a role to play in preventing food waste?” – Eurobarometer asked in 2015. “Consumers, people like you” – this answer was chosen by 44 % of Lithuanians and 88 % of Swedes. Optimism regarding people’s role appears to be very unevenly distributed among EU member states. The present conference, being part of a food waste awareness raising initiative* by 6 European countries, is intended to gather researchers and experts experienced in tackling food waste, who could inspire us with examples of successful campaigning that resulted in greater public awareness and reduction of the waste. Vytenis Andriukaitis, European Commissioner in charge of food safety and public health, will update our conference on EU-level actions concerning food wastage.Zita Čeponytė, President of the Lithuanian Consumer Institute, will address the paradox of ever more expensive, yet also devalued food as a symptom of our times. Lisanne van Geffen, PhD candidate at Wageningen University will address determinants of household food waste, based on a survey held across 4 EU countries; she will also present insights into factors influencing consumer awareness. Sophie Hieke, Head of Consumer Science at European Food Information Council (EUFIC), will present a project entitled “Don’t be a food waster” which deals with consumer behaviour towards food waste.  Ingela Morfeldt, project manager at Malmö Municipality (Sweden), will inspire us with an example of award-winning communication campaign on food waste reduction. Robert van Otterdijk, Agro-Industry Officer at FAO – Food and Agriculture Organization, the leading UN agency for tackling hunger through knowledge – will talk about food waste in the global context. Margret Ploum, Head of Programmes at the Netherlands Nutrition Centre, will relate the Dutch experience of cutting down on food waste. The Netherlands Nutrition Centre gives consumers practical advice on how to eat in a more sustainable way. 

PROGRAMME 12:15-12:45 Registration
12:45-13:00 Rescue food, fight hunger, save the planet: why we need to work together to fight food waste, Vytenis Andriukaitis, European Commissioner (Health & Food Safety)
13:00-13:30 Expensive yet devalued: on the value of food, Zita Čeponytė, President, Lithuanian Consumer Institute
13:30-14:00 Global approach to food waste, Robert van Otterdijk, Agro-Industry Officer, Food and Agriculture Organization – FAO
14:00-14:30 Consumers and food waste: insights into the latest research and trends, Sophie Hieke, Head of Consumer Science, European Food Information Council (EUFIC)
14:30-14:45 Discussion
14:45-15:15 Coffee/Tea Break
15:15-15:45 Influencing consumers’ behaviour to limit food waste, Lisanne van Geffen, PhD candidate, Wageningen University & Research
15:45-16:15 Cutting down on Food Waste, the Dutch Experience, Margret Ploum, Head of Programmes Food Quality and Healthy through Life, Netherlands Nutrition Centre
16:15-16:45 Loved the food. Thanks, Ingela Morfeldt, project manager – Solid Waste Department at VA SYD, Malmö City
16:45-17:00 Discussion & Conclusions

* The conference Food Waste at Home & Ways to Address It is part of the project Global learning approach to food waste in non-formal education (2017-2020), which is partly supported by the European Commission and implemented in Bulgaria, Croatia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Romania. The project aims to fill the gap of awareness concerning food waste; increase knowledge on how food waste is globally related to climate change; raise awareness on interdependencies between developing and developed countries regarding food production and consumption; and promote food waste avoidance skills in households. Some 122 trainings in working places, multipliers skill-building workshops and 110 events featuring Food Labs will take place in 6 countries during the period of project implementation.