Municipality for the Future

8 West Flanders municipalities seek advice on food loss

Every year, the Fleming throws away 34 kilograms of food. Good for about 2 to 3 full shopping carts per family. Large kitchens and catering establishments also remain big food wasters. This is no different in West Flanders. In that province, eight municipalities are combating food waste with the financial support of the Province of West Flanders, Westtoer and Bond Beter Leefmilieu.

Municipality for the Future

In 2019, the Province of West Flanders and Bond Beter Leefmilieu concluded the cooperation agreement ‘Gemeente voor de Toekomst’ with each other. With that initiative, they invest in participatory projects on climate change. If a West Flanders municipality signs up for a project, it receives half of its registration fee back from the Province. Several projects also deal with food waste. In 2024, for example, eight municipalities will have three projects on food waste.

Measuring food waste

The first workshop focuses on commercial kitchens of residential care centres, hospitals, companies and schools. In those kitchens, 20% to 40% of food disappears into the rubbish bin. Good for 1,500 to 2,500 euros per tonne of food thrown away. Together with FoodWIN, soup kitchens are investigating the financial and environmental impact of food waste, and how much food does not end up in the bin, but on the plate. FoodWIN is an expertise centre within Rikolto that guides organisations and companies to reduce food waste.

Smart cooking and serving

Owners and employees of West Flanders hotels can also turn to FoodWIN for tips on cooking with leftovers, portion sizes and efficient buffet management. At the same time, the organisation teaches how hotels can turn their guests' “all you can eat” mentality into an “eat what you need” mentality.

Waste-free consumers

Since a quarter of food waste happens between our own four walls, FoodWIN's third workshop focuses on individual consumers. They can attend a workshop on waste-free buying, cooking and storing through the West Flemish municipalities.