Saving & Offering Food
About this good practice
“Boroume” has a mission to reduce food waste and to fight malnutrition in Greece. Through their "Saving & Offering Food" program they save food on a daily basis from many sources and they offer it to charities that help people who are facing food insecurity. Their actions help the most vulnerable in the Greek society as well as the environment by reducing organic food waste.
They approach the issue of food waste holistically through the following programs:
• "Stop Food Waste" - increasing awareness about food waste
• "Boroume at School" - educational program
• "Boroume Gleaning" - reducing food waste on the field
• "Boroume at the Farmers' Market" - reducing food waste at the farmers' markets
• "Boroume in the Neighborhood" - informing potential food donors in a neighborhood about their food saving mechanism.
Through their program "We Are Family" they provide nutritional support in an immediate transparent and dignified way to families in great need.
Their vision is to develop a social movement to reduce food waste and at the same time increase nutritional support to people in need based on volunteer support.
Resources needed
Volunteers, coordination, logistic skills
Evidence of success
Only for 2016, “Boroume” has saved and offered more than 22 tons of fresh fruits and vegetables from 5 farmers’ markets in Attica. They also saved 7.100 kilos of fruits and vegetables from various fields throughout Greece and offered them to local charitable organizations.
Over 82.000 euros of donations into supermarket vouchers supporting more than 1.456 recipients with their program "We Are Family".
Potential for learning or transfer
The Greek crisis created a more favourable context for promoting an idea which not only reduces food waste but more importantly increases food donations to the needy. Finally, the crisis created an increased willingness of Greeks to support such actions through voluntary participation. In 2016, along with 7 stakeholders from 4 different countries they have initiated the EU project "SavingFood", funded by the EU program on research and innovation “Horizon2020”. This project aims to create an online platform that will facilitate the redistribution of surplus food for the benefit of the vulnerable groups of our society, with the development of an online networked community of donors, charitable organizations and volunteers. The project’s emphasis is in informing the general public and raising awareness in order to evoke a change of attitude regarding the issue of food waste.
Further information
Website
Good practice owner
You can contact the good practice owner below for more detailed information.
BOROUME (NGO)