This event provides an opportunity to discuss social and collective responsibility in addressing food waste. Through its support for the Ricibo Network, the Foundation reaffirms its commitment to the well-being of the community and the promotion of more sustainable and inclusive models.
Marking the National Day for the Prevention of Food Waste, Genoa hosted the “Food, Waste and Poverty”, promoted by the Ricibo Network led by the San Benedetto al Porto Community, with the collaboration of Coop Liguria.
The event served as an important platform for discussing the issue of food waste and its social, economic and environmental impact. The goal was to stimulate a collective reflection on the urgent need to develop concrete and actionable strategies to make the entire food supply system more sustainable and inclusive.
Since its inception, the Ricibo Network has benefited from the support of Fondazione Compagnia di San Paolo (FCSP), which has backed its efforts to combat food waste and poverty in the region. FCSP reaffirmed its commitment in the greetings presented by Nicoletta Viziano, a member of the Turin-based philanthropic organisation’s Management Committee.
The event, held in the Quadrivium Hall, brought together experts, institutions, businesses and local organisations for a round table focused on collective social responsibility. During the day, the updated data from the 2024 Report on Food Waste was presented, revealing that in Genoa, over 10,000 tons of perfectly edible food are wasted each year, while the recovery of food surpluses remains limited.
The discussions underscored the need to strengthen surplus recovery efforts, while at the same time highlighting the importance of developing prevention strategies that go beyond simple collection and redistribution, taking into account the environmental, economic and social costs of food recovery.
While recovery is an essential step today, it also brings up critical concerns about the quality of what’s recovered, particularly when it comes to the products collected and redistributed, which are not always nutritionally balanced.
It is therefore important to gradually separate the issues of food waste and surplus management from the fight against food poverty. These should be treated as distinct challenges, with a focus on creating alternative, more holistic supply models to meet the basic needs of those in need.
At the end of the event, the artistic installation “Venere del Pane” was unveiled in Piazza De Ferrari, created in collaboration with the Education Department of the Castello di Rivoli Museum of Contemporary Art. The installation, inspired by Michelangelo Pistoletto’s Venus of the Rags, transformed a heap of unsold bread into a powerful symbol of the paradox of food waste, encouraging a visual reflection on the issue.