In support of the ongoing global “Stop the Waste" movement, the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) partnered with talabat to host an event focused on raising awareness on reducing food waste by engaging with restaurant partners. The event took place at the two-storey ‘talabat Kitchen’ at Expo 2020 home to over 30 of the UAE’s most loved food brands.
The event’s highlight was a live cook-off led by Chef Maya Badran, specialised in plant based and zero food waste friendly cooking, and YouTuber and TV Host Haifa Beseisso, during which insightful examples and tips were shared on practical methods to shop, store and consume sustainably to reduce food waste #StoptheWaste.
Launched in 2019 by WFP, #StoptheWaste is a global annual campaign aimed at raising awareness on the huge amounts of edible food that is discarded daily, as one-third – or more than 1 billion tons – of food produced for human consumption is lost or wasted, from the time it is produced to the moment it is consumed by households. These losses are valued at an estimated US$1 trillion annually.
Globally, enough food is produced to feed the world’s 7 billion people, yet 811 million people are still living in hunger. One of the factors driving global hunger is the climate crisis. Climate shocks and stresses are destroying lives, crops and livelihoods, and undermining people’s ability to feed themselves. In countries where infrastructures and food supply chains are more developed, up to 40 percent of food is wasted “after the plate” – meaning people are simply buying more food than they can consume.
”As hunger has been on the rise, now, more than ever we need partners like talabat to play an impactful role in helping WFP raise awareness on hunger and show individuals and communities how they can make a difference starting with making small conscious changes in their daily actions” said Caterina Galluzzi, Deputy Director to the GCC at UN WFP. “ We are grateful for talabat for hosting #StopTheWaste event at Expo 2020, and we look forward to building on our strong partnership”.
As part of the event, talabat invited restaurant partners, including Manoushe Street, Kababji and Alien Burger, to participate in the event by providing some of their surplus food items around which Chef Maya and Haifa created three inspiring mouth-watering and nutritious dishes, namely warm hummus & cabbage salad, hindbeh& feta starter, and Taouk& Potato fritters as a main dish.
Susanne Stulemeijer, Vice President Communications, Public Affairs & Corporate Responsibility at talabat said: “We are proud to support our long standing global partner, the World Food Programme, with its Stop the Waste movement at Expo 2020 this year, reaffirming our support for their mission to end world hunger. We believe in harnessing tech for good, as well as leveraging our reach to raise awareness around important issues like food scarcity and hunger in the communities we serve.”
She added: “Our talabat cloud kitchens inside and outside of Expo 2020 follow stringent sustainability policies and project the food items required to avoid food wastage. Through this collaboration and this event, we aim to demonstrate that anyone can be part of the change and it can start by making very small changes to shopping, eating and storage habits and by not purchasing more than they need, ultimately also saving money by just making better informed choices.”
Through WFP, supporters can efficiently fight hunger by donating their savings from wasting less food, into lifesaving food for those who need it most.
Individuals can also start by making small actions daily, such as planning the groceries, mixing leftovers to create the next meal using everything current food items can offer, like potato peels to make chips or bones to make a delicious and nutritious broth.
Follow the World Food Programme social media accounts on instagram and Tik Tok and participate in the “Food Waste Confessions” and visit www.wfp.org/StopTheWaste for more information.