Food waste is a huge problem in the food system- from our personal kitchens to supermarkets and industrial food-processing factories. We are all complicit in surplus economics whether we like it or not.

I’ve been reading the very informative book, Waste by Tristram Stuart which reveals some shocking statistics about food waste at the global industrial scale and explains the evolutionary origins of surplus.

I was gratified to dwell on the food waste question recently in collaboration with Dinner Exchange Berlin a project that brings people together for meals made from perfectly good food that would otherwise be thrown away.  As part of the Performance Practices Marathon at the Institut für Raumexperimente we gathered food from three Berlin markets as they were closing and asked the vendors to donate the food that they would normally throw away because it’s no longer sale-able.

It was mind-blowing how much food we picked up; crates of pomegranates, melons, bananas, apricots, mangoes, grapes, endive, lettuce, carrots, tomatoes, cucumbers, herbs, onions, potatoes, soup greens (leeks, carrots, celeriac, parsley) eggs, cheese, bread, etc…and there was (lots) more if we wanted it. Apparently many of these vendors pay a service to help them dispose of their waste. So they were more than happy for us to take it.

It really breaks my heart to think of all the energy that goes into growing so much food – food that is or was once alive- headed directly to the grave. It’s simply criminal. So what do we do about it? What can we do at the personal level? And what is being done at the bigger institutional level to help stop food waste?

Our meal helped to clarify and think more about these questions. And it was fun to cook collaboratively and spontaneously. Our menu for 80 people: Gazpacho,  fruit smoothies, roasted vegetables with lentils and spelt, bread, butter & cheese, and pear and ginger bread pudding.

One meal isn’t going to save the world, but raising awareness is a start. There are many interesting food-saving initiatives underway. Slow Food Germany uses food waste as a central theme in its current activism, and supermarkets are starting to make commitments to reduce food waste like Tesco in Great Briton and others like Safeway in the US have started composting programs with organic waste.