3 foodsharing websites to save money and avoid waste

1.3 billion tons of food produced each year are lost. According to FAO data, about one-third of the world food production goes lost or wasted. Food losses mainly occur during production, while food waste occurs mainly at the level of retailers and consumers. It is estimated that waste per food loss in Europe, North America and Oceania hovers between 95 and 115 Kg per year, while sub-Saharan Africa, South and Southeast Asia it is between 6 and 11 kg year. While 870 million people worldwide suffer from hunger, about half of the whole food production goes wasted in industrialized countries. The most common reason is that producers, distributors and consumers eliminate food that is still good for consumption.

We’ve chosen three websites which allow you to share food, save money and avoid waste.

Casserole

Created by the London-based agency of innovation, Futuregov, Casserole allows anyone to share the excess food with the neighbors who ask for it. To take part in the initiative as a cook, users just have to show their availability on the website, specifying their location and providing some information on the dish they intend to cook. The neighbors may apply for a meal at home directly online, although there is also an active phone line to facilitate the inclusion of the elderly and those without access to the internet. The project aims to tackle social isolation and food waste through food sharing.

AmpleHarvest.org

It's called AmpleHarvest.org, the network which connects home gardeners to local food pantries and encourages them to donate their excess harvest to the food pantries in their community. 40 million people who have food  growing right in their household, versus 50 million who are at risk of hunger.  It didn’t take much to gardener and social innovator Gary Oppenheimer to do the math.  In 2009, after seeing the amount of wasted food in the country’s gardens he decided to take action and created AmpleHarvest.org, a project to empower gardeners and help them eliminate hunger in their community. Since its launch AmpleHarvest.org has distributed more than 20 million tons of fresh food to local food banks.

Foodsharing

It’s only a few months old but it has already attracted hundreds of citizens in Germany, it’s called Foodsharing and it’s the new web platform which allows citizens to share excess food with their neighbors. The brainchild of Valentin Thurn and Stefan Kreutzberger, initially the initiative involved only a few families in some German cities and was launched online throughout December last year. The products offered on the platform are extremely varied From rice to baby formula to the Sunday lunch leftovers. Each offer is geolocalized, showcases the food description, the quantity and the expiration date. It is estimated that in Germany alone, food waste per capita is about 82 kg. Each year, 500,000 tons of food end up in the garbage can.