Foodsharing
Sharing and exchanging food instead of throwing it away: With the launch of the website myfoodsharing.at, Austria also took the first step towards a new, sustainable, and intelligent approach to handling food in private households.
The online platform connects people who want to prevent good, edible food from being destroyed by sharing and exchanging it. Anyone who wants to give away food free of charge can upload an “electronic basket” online. Potential recipients choose a food basket in their local area and collect the food free of charge. This ensures that valuable resources are put to meaningful use instead of ending up in the bin. FairTeiler – organised sharing points – also serve the targeted exchange of food. The first FairTeiler in Austria was established by Michaela Russmann from BioWerkstatt in Vienna.
Fair sharing for a more inclusive society
For 14 years, Wiener Tafel has successfully ensured that up to three tonnes of food per day are rescued from waste from retailers, industry, and agriculture, and that 12,000 people affected by poverty receive these valuable food donations. More than 400 volunteers are active six days a week. They deliver edible products to people in need via the shortest possible route, supplying 85 social organisations in the greater Vienna area. In addition to its practical social transfer work – tackling poverty, hunger, and food waste – raising awareness is also one of the core responsibilities of Austria’s oldest food bank organisation.
One billion euros in the bin?
Around 157,000 tonnes of packaged and unpackaged food as well as food leftovers worth more than one billion euros end up in residual waste in Austria every year. This corresponds to goods worth around 300 euros per household per year. The aim of the Federal Ministry is to sustainably reduce food waste along the entire value chain.
Anyone who has bought or cooked too much food, needs to empty their fridge before going on holiday, or cannot use the abundant harvest from their own fruit trees alone can find people in their local area willing to take it free of charge via the internet thanks to food sharing. The principle is simple: Users create “baskets” online containing food they would like to give away. They can choose whether the items should be collected from their own doorstep or from a so-called FairTeiler location.
Action Programme “Food is precious!”
The establishment and implementation of a food-sharing platform is one of the four key areas of action of the Action Programme “Food is precious!”. A smartphone app is also being developed to enable mobile sharing.
Seeking committed food-sharing partners
On myfoodsharing.at, people can also arrange to cook together in order to share surplus food with others instead of throwing it away. Wiener Tafel, the Federal Ministry, and Foodsharing.de are calling on people in Austria to connect via myfoodsharing.at. In particular, committed businesses and private individuals are being sought who will follow the example of Michaela Russmann and her BioWerkstatt team by setting up a FairTeiler location.