Innovations against food waste
The Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture nominates 18 projects from all over Germany for the "Zu gut für die Tonne! " (“Too good for the Bin!”) Award. The winners will be announced on 3 April.
“Every food that is produced contains valuable resources – for example, about 70 litres of water have to flow before an apple on the supermarket shelf is ready to eat, and as many as 5000 litres are needed to make one kilogram of cheese,” explains Federal Minister of Agriculture Julia Klöckner. “But we still throw away 55 kilograms of food per person and year. We have to get away from this high figure.” In order to raise consumer awareness of the issue of food waste, the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL) launched the campaign “Too good for the Bin!” In addition to the app of the same name, which contains more than 700 recipes and ideas for using leftovers, there are also tips for shopping. In addition, the BMEL explains mistakes about the best-before date on the packaging in order to counteract waste. According to Klöckner, with their ideas the nominees for the Federal Award “Too good for the Bin!” show creatively how resources can be protected effectively.
A total of 117 ideas were submitted this year. From these the jury, chaired by Bärbel Dieckmann, former President of the German charity Welthungerhilfe e.V., selected 18 projects as finalists. The award is presented in the categories trade, catering, production and agriculture, society and education, as well as – for the first time this year – in the category of digitization. In addition, three promotional prizes worth EUR 5,000 or 10,000 respectively will be awarded. The winners will be announced on April 3, 2019, at a festive awards ceremony with Federal Minister Julia Klöckner.
With the Federal Award “Too Good for the Bin!”, the BMEL is now for the fourth time rewarding outstanding projects that contribute to reducing food waste. The whole spectrum of the value chain is targeted: Companies, associations, clubs, municipalities, research institutions as well as individuals were invited to apply.
The nominees:
Trade:
Aldi Süd für den "Mindesthaltbarkeitsdatum-Hinweis auf Milchpackungen" (Mülheim an der Ruhr), Edeka Dirnberger für den "Lebensmittel Fair-Teiler" (Wenzenbach), Penny Markt GmbH für "Kostbares retten" und "Naturgut Bio-Helden" (Köln, NRW)
Catering:
Cassius Garten für "Alles aufessen" (Bonn), Frischküche Stefan Gerhardt für "Nachhaltiges Handeln für Schüler und mit den Schülern" (Sassenburg), Studierendenwerk Ulm für "Happy Hour" (Ulm, Baden-Württemberg)
Produktion und Landwirtschaft, Netzwerk UNSER LAND für "Krummes Gemüse, perfekte Qualität – UNSER LAND Bio Suppen" (Esting), ShoutOutLoud e.V. für "Frankfurter Knärzje – Ein Brotbier gegen die Lebensmittelverschwendung" (Frankfurt), Veggiespecials für "Tofu Mama – Rettet Tofu-Waisenkinder" (Köln)
Production and agriculture, OUR COUNTRY network for "Crooked vegetables, perfect quality - OUR COUNTRY Organic soups" (Esting), ShoutOutLoud e.V. for "Frankfurter Knärzje - Ein Brotbier gegen die Lebensmittelverschwendung" (A bread-beer against food waste) (Frankfurt), Veggiespecials for "Tofu Mama - Rettet Tofu-Waisenkinder" (Save Tofu orphans), (Cologne)
Society and Education:
Ackerdemia for "Ackern schafft Bildung" (Potsdam), Berliner Tafel for "KIMBA", Heimatverein Keppeln for "Falling fruit is no waste" (Keppeln)
Digitization:
Marktschwärmer (Berlin), Noyanum and various student unions for "Absatzprognosen für die Hochschulgastronomie" (Sales forecasts for university catering) (Garching), Too Good to Go (Berlin)
Sponsorship Award:
Antegon GmbH for "Food Tracks" (Münster), Bioland Gemüsehof Hörz for "Mineral Resources" (Filderstadt), "nXm film production - Melanie Hauke und Nina Lorenzen" for "Zero Waste Cooking with Sophia Hoffmann" (Berlin)
