The French senate has unanimously passed a law preventing large stores from wasting edible food, and requiring them to donate it to charity insread
Large shops will have to sign 'donation contracts' with charities or face penalties, including fines of up to €75,000 (£53,000) or two years’ imprisonment. Practices such as bleaching or staining food before discarding it, to prevent people from retrieving it and eating it, have also been outlawed. The law will also make it simpler for the food industry to donate surplus products from factories. As a result, the charities which distribute food are looking to recruit volunteers and extend their organisations. The new law requires them to to collect and stock the food in appropriately hygienic conditions and distribute it with “dignity”, which means giving out the food at proper centres, where there is time for social contact, rather than just handing it out in the street. The foodbanks hope that one effect of the new law will be to improve the balance of foods available -- currently they are top-heavy in processed foods and lacking in fresh produce. The French decision comes as a similar bill supported by Sustain member Fareshare awaits its Second Reading in the UK parliament. A recent conference on the need to measure food poverty in the UK, co-organised by Sustain and the Food Research Collaboration, heard that while foodbanks and other charitable providers perform a valuable service, they also risk distracting attention from the underlying causes of food poverty, such as low wages or inadequate social security payments.
Published Friday 5 February 2016
Sustain: Sustain The alliance for better food and farming advocates food and agriculture policies and practices that enhance the health and welfare of people and animals, improve the working and living environment, enrich society and culture and promote equity.
