A coalition of around 20 locally headquartered civic groups recently launched a major food waste campaign aimed at ensuring the Aug. 19-30 Taipei 2017 Summer Universiade, the largest global sporting event ever staged in Taiwan, is the leanest and greenest in the history of the 58-year games.
The Save Food, Save Life for You, for Youth campaign will monitor food use at the Universiade athletes’ village in Linkou District of neighboring New Taipei City and use this data to make daily inventory adjustment recommendations, as well as set a carbon emissions target for the catering company. In addition, surplus food is to be made available for economically disadvantaged residents of local communities.
Modeled after the Save Food for the Poor initiative by internationally renowned chefs Massimo Bottura of Italy and David Hertz of Brazil at the 2016 Rio Olympics, the campaign is aiming to repeat the success of the culinary maestros in slashing waste and using surplus food to prepare 5,000 meals for the needy.
Shen Pao-li, one of the leaders of the campaign and an executive with Taipei-based Homemakers United Foundation, said March 29 that the campaign stands to help Taiwan position itself on the global stage as a leader in devising and implementing integrated food management practices. She also invited Universiade organizer Taipei City Government to take the lead in coordinating multiagency efforts to make the most of the surplus food.
If the city government can recruit volunteers to package and distribute the food, as well as provide venues for civic groups to recycle resources, this would go a long way toward making the campaign a highly effective one, she added.
In response, Chu Da-cheng, director of the Universiade’s Catering and Sports Injury Prevention Division under TCG, welcomed the campaign and said the local government is willing to join forces with the civic groups.
As keeping food waste to a minimum is of the utmost importance, the government already requires the catering company to conduct regular usage evaluations and adjustments, he said, adding it will ask the caterer to incorporate the goals of the campaign into the operating plan.
TCG estimates peg the total number of participants in the games, including athletes, coaches, officials and other support staff, at nearly 12,000 and requiring 35,000-40,000 meals daily. A wide variety of dishes spanning Asian, halal, Mediterranean, Taiwanese and vegetarian will be available 20 hours a day.
The Universiade is an international sporting and cultural festival staged every two years in a different city worldwide. The 29th edition of the games in Taipei involves 7,700-plus athletes from 150 countries contesting 21 sports at 38 competition venues around northern Taiwan. (SCK-E)
Write to Taiwan Today at ttonline@mofa.gov.tw