On 1 March 2016 the NAT commission of the CoR organized a debate, with Mr Vytenis Andriukaitis, the Commissioner responsible for Health & Food Safety, on food waste, chaired by the 1st Vice-Chair of NAT, Cllr Tony Buchanan. In his introductory remarks to the debate Cllr Buchanan said that food security is one of the biggest challenges of the 21st century within the context of a growing population and climate change and both these factors will considerably affect the way we produce and eat food.
He stressed that "The prevention of food waste is seen as an important starting point for achieving global food security, as it frees up finite resources for other uses, diminishes environmental risks and avoids financial losses. Put in a wider context, food waste may be considered as one of the symptoms of the unsustainability of the current food system. Wasting food is not only an ethical and economic issue but it also depletes the environment of limited natural resources."
He also highlighted that in its work the CoR asks the EC to set more specific objectives for reducing food waste by 30% by 2025 and to set specific reduction targets for every phase of the food production chain. He added, "The LRAs can be at the heart of this process. They are in a strategic position to work with citizens, schools, restaurants and food businesses so as to promote and support food waste reduction through awareness-raising, communication, education, training and collection of food waste for donation, energy recovery and composting.".
