Food Bank’s meeting in Athens has been completed: 2 million tons of food annually in Greece end up as waste.

Updated on December 11, 2024
by Foodbank Support
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A two-day pan-Hellenic meeting was held in Athens with the participation of representatives from the seven Food Banks (FBs) operated in Greece, the director of the Federation of European Food Banks (FEBA), Esteban Arriaga and the director of Global Food Banking Network (GFBN), Samuel Nichols.

The purpose of the conference, which took place on 4th & 5th November 2024, was the participants to exchange opinions and the good practices implemented by each Greek FB to be discussed. In addition, results and conclusions of a study – this conducted on behalf of Athens FB – concerning the social impact of Athens FB in Attika to be presented.

During the first day of the meeting, Samuel Nichols underlined the value of environmental protection and the positive impact that FBs should achieve. He pointed out that nowadays, the food insecurity is higher than before the pandemic. He also informed the participants that, in Kenya, the FBs collect up to 80% of the food directly from the fields.

Esteban Arriaga announced the restructuring of FEBA, he expressed the same position as Mr. Nichols about the food insecurity issue and he emphasized that the FBs have to focus on human needs.

Vasso Papadimitriou, the General Manager of the Association of Greek Food Industries, welcomed the event. Mrs. Papadimitriou represented the food companies which provide products to FBs, on a regular basis. The close collaboration of the food companies with FBs ensures the contribution of the companies to the limitation of food waste and to the support of human needs.

Tzortzina Stavropoulou, on behalf of the Central Markets and Fisheries Organization, noted the necessity of cooperation with FBs targeting to food waste reduction, particularly for fresh fruits and vegetables, foods with high nutritional value.

Panagis Vourloumis, the President of the Athens FB, addressed the meeting and he remarked that, in Greece, annually, 2 million tons of food ends up as garbage in landfills. He also mentioned that, in Greece, the food insecurity shows rising trend after the pandemic, and that the Greek state have to support the FBs for their operation.

At the close of the first day, Sotiris Petropoulos, the Founder of Higgs, presented the study concerning the social impact of Athens FB in Attica.

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The most important outcomes of the study can be concluded as follows: the food companies take seriously under consideration elements such as data analysis and transparency. Furthermore, the companies trust the FBs for distribution of their products; the study revealed that the beneficiaries receive indirect financial aid through the food donations.

Finally, based on the measurement tool of the social impact, for every 1 euro donated to the Athens FB, 4.98€ of social value is returned to the society.

During the second day of the meeting, the representatives of the FBs located in Thessaloniki, Drama, West Attica and Thessaly concluded that despite the existed difficulties, the Greek FBs have to keep supporting people with daily food needs.