Marcelo demands “more ambition” from every citizen in the fight against food waste

This Friday, the President of the Republic asked every citizen to show “even more ambition” in the fight against food waste, noting that “Portugal is the fourth country in the European Union that wastes the most food per person.”

Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa spoke at the closing session of a meeting organized by the Unidos Movement against Despair at Marítima de Alcántara Station in Lisbon to mark International Food Loss and Waste Awareness Day.

According to the head of state, from the point of view of the legislative framework, “steps have been taken,” and in Portugal “there is a diagnosis and awareness of the problem.”

“Between us, data from the National Institute of Statistics (INE) says that in just one year, in 2020, we spent 1.89 million tons of food, with each Portuguese wasting an average of 183 kilograms of food,” he said.

The President of the Republic added that “Portugal is the fourth country in the European Union that wastes the most food per person, almost 60 kilograms above the European average, and Portugal is home to almost 400 thousand people in need of food.”

“So what’s left to do? In fact, this is not enough, and this is what each of us lacks – this is one of those cases when we should not assign responsibility to third parties, it is our fault, we are all not everything. ambitions are still made,” he thought.

Marcelo Rebelo de Souza noted that “most food waste occurs at home” and that this can be avoided by “learning to read food expiration labels and store them correctly.”

At the political-legislative level, he emphasized that “there is a national strategy to combat food waste from 2018 and a new legal regulation that will come into force next year, which obliges food retail companies, manufacturing companies, shops and restaurants not to throw away food, which is still usable, and give it as a gift.”

Reducing food waste is one of the sustainable development goals of the United Nations 2030 Agenda, which has celebrated International Food Loss and Waste Awareness Day for three years.

The President of the Republic supported the statement of United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres that “food waste is a moral outrage” in a world in which “860 million people continue to go hungry.”

Highlighting the delay in achieving this and other sustainable development goals, he said: “It is for this reason that we must be firm, determined and strong-willed in achieving them. This is only possible if each of us makes a commitment to change our own lives.” Everyday life. By accepting this ethical imperative.”

“There is still a lack of determination to fulfill the goal set by the United Nations Secretary-General three years ago to ensure that the Portuguese people respect this ethical imperative in their daily lives,” he stressed.