Italy joins a list of countries looking to end food-waste, and we in Harrogate are doing our bit.

Italy is introducing a series of incentives to end food waste. Instead of throwing away leftover food, Italy wants businesses that sell food to donate unsold items to charities rather than throw it away.

The environmental, economic and moral benefits are so clear that the bill received broad support across all political parties and is speeding through the approval process. The next step will be getting businesses to comply, providing some sort of nudge to change the current model of careless waste.

Other countries such as France are nudging businesses with fines.

Italy is taking a different approach. Instead of imposing penalties, the country will give garbage collection tax breaks to businesses that take part in the initiative. All food donated by businesses has to be recorded so the tax break will be easy to implement.

A French politician is looking to pass an EU-wide proposal to end food waste in all member countries.

Giving away “food waste” might strike some as denigrating to the poor and homeless, because it suggests that they don’t deserve quality food. But the vast majority of “food waste” around the world is perfectly edible.

Local projects such as Resurrected Bites at St Mark's Church in Harrogate, offer community cafes which benefit the many and prevent food waste going to landfill.

The cafe opened at St Mark's Church in January last year, and opens every Wednesday between 10am-2pm as well as every third Saturday.

Food which is destined for landfill is donated by shops and cafes in the Harrogate area every week. Projects like this speak from the heart and offer us all a valuable lesson to waste less and share more.

For instance, mis-labeled, misshapen, bruised or ripped labelled items become food waste. 

Food is wasted at all parts of the supply chain: at the agricultural level, while it is being handled and stored, while it is being processed, when it arrives at a shop and after it is purchased by consumers.

Each part of the supply chain calls for a different approach to reducing waste, but the lowest hanging fruit is clearly distribution to consumers. This food has arrived at an organized location and is constantly monitored and prevented from going bad. Encouraging businesses to mark excess food for delivery to charities instead of the bin is an easy fix.