France will require all Big Supermarkets to give unsold food to charity

Supermarkets in France will not be allowed to destroy unsold food but will instead be required to donate it to charity or even use it as animal feed. This is according to a new law which was passed to crack down food waste. The law was unanimously passed by the French national assembly as they continue to fight the epidemic of food wastage.

According to Yves Jego who is the Center right deputy: “Charities are desperate for food, and that’s why there is an absolute urgency. This law is very important because it opens up for others who are in need.” Through the law, all supermarkets will not be allowed to destroy any unsold food. The supermarkets will be required to sign contracts with charities before mid-next year failure to which they will face penalties of up to 53 Euros.

This move has come a few days after the media highlighted how the poor, unemployed, students and even the homeless would forage the supermarket bins during the nights to feed themselves as they survive on the edible foods which have been thrown by the supermarkets as waste. Some supermarkets had gone to the extent of deliberately binning food in locked warehouses before collection by refuse trucks in order to reduce scavengers.

The issue of wastage has become a disaster with pressure groups asking for actions to take against the supermarkets because of wastage. The issue of supermarkets giving their waste to charities and the poor was started by a group which was complaining about the wastage.

The newly passed law will also have a program which will be introduced to school about food waste in schools. It’s estimated that about 7.1 million tonnes of food are destroyed in France each year. More to that about 1.3 billion tonnes of food is destroyed each year worldwide.