Good practice for Sustainable Food Systems in a circular economy perspective: NFCSO’s School Programme

About 1.8 million tons of food waste is produced annually in Hungary. A significant proportion of this – about one third – is produced by households. According to the results of national research, it means that 65 kg of food waste is produced per person annually, and nearly half of this could be avoided. Altogether this represents 300 000 tonnes of biodegradable waste, that have a serious impact on our environment, considering the resources necessary to get rid of the waste as well as the resources used for production of the food. Recognizing the problem, the National Food Chain Safety Office (NFCSO) started the Wasteless Project with the financial support of the European Union’s LIFE sub-programme in 2016. The aim of the Wasteless Project is to decrease the amount of food wasted in Hungarian households through 1) raising awareness, 2) shaping social norms and 3) sharing good practices. The project not only targets the general population, but also includes specific actions addressed to 1) household managers, 2) young adults who just started their own household and 3) teachers, children and parents via the School Programme. Several cognitive studies confirm that we acquire new knowledge more easily in childhood, and that these learnings tend to become part of our everyday routine. Therefore, extensive knowledge transfer should take place at early life stages, including the knowledge of food purchasing, storing and production, in order to instill good habits preventing food waste. Reaching children affects not only the adult behavior in the future, but, through the deployment of appropriate tools, parents and other elder family members. Having an impact on parents will not entail permanent change in every case, but indirect results can be quickly achieved. Therefore, NFCSO’s Wasteless Project strongly intends to increase the awareness of food waste prevention among primary school students, via a School Programme (started in March 2018) specifically designed for this purpose.