Wageningen University & Research: Food-Waste Free Week on Wageningen Campus

Did you know that one-quarter of all of the food in the Netherlands is never consumed? All that food is cultivated, processed, transported, cooled and heated. All of this requires a lot of energy. Energy that contributes to global warming. Hence, wasting as little food as possible is all the more important. Join the Waste-Free Week from 12 to and including 18 September. Everyone who eats can join, on campus or at home.

Creative with leftovers
Nobody wants to waste food. You can prevent a lot of waste by getting creative with leftovers at home. If everyone contributes, we can achieve great results for our climate together. You could store leftovers on a designated shelf in your fridge to help you remember to use them. Or cook exact amounts by measuring or weighing your rice, for example. That way, you will have fewer leftovers.

Food-Waste-free campus
On Wageningen Campus, we also aim to waste as little food as possible. In the week from 12 to 18 September, catering services at Wageningen Campus will add #foodwastefree to the menu. Waste-free products and menu options will be available at the buildings Aurora, Impulse, Omnia, Forum and Orion. Moreover, the caterers will demonstrate how they collaborate with partners such as Orbisk, Foodsharing and Too Good To Go.Programme Food-Waste-Free Week

Different food- waste-free dishes will be highlighted in these locations every day of the week. Examples include banana bread made from overly ripe bananas, bread pudding made from leftover bread or a soup prepared from the discarded butts and tops of vegetables. Food-Waste-free soup will be served every day of the week and can be sampled for free on Thursday. This soup is produced by the Waste factory, which aims to comprehensively address the enormous waste of fresh vegetable waste streams. The factory salvages these vegetables and turns them into tasty soups, sauces and stews. The workers in the factory have labour disabilities and are therefore distanced from the employment market.

Additionally, the daily menu will feature the Zwamcijsje (a vegetarian alternative to the typically Dutch sausage roll) made by Wageningen start-up UmaMeats. Zwamcijsje is an excellent example of circular food, with less waste and locally sourced ingredients. Every year, approximately one-third of all farmland is sown with grain, for bread, among other things. However, more than half of the grain consists of straw, which is frequently left behind in the fields. Mushrooms thrive on straw and convert it into vitamin, mineral and protein-rich mushrooms. That way, no straw is wasted.

There will be a demonstration of the Orbisk automated food waste monitor. Orbisk helps professional kitchens get a grip on their food waste by measuring and classifying the discarded food and recording the amount and time of day.