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French supermarkets to give away unsold food

France has taken steps to crackdown on the amount of food wasted by supermarkets when MPs voted to outlaw the destruction of unsold products. Instead they will have to hand any edible food goods over to charities.

French supermarkets to give away unsold food
Wasting edible food is "scandalous" said one French MP. Photo: Mikey Jones/AFP

In a rare show of unity France's parliament voted unanimously Thursday to ban food waste in big supermarkets, notably by outlawing the destruction of unsold food products.

“It's scandalous to see bleach being poured into supermarket dustbins along with edible foods,” said Socialist member of parliament Guillaume Garot who sponsored the bill.

Under the new legislation, supermarkets will have to take measures to prevent food waste and will be forced to donate any unsold but still edible food goods to charity or for use as animal feed or farming compost.

All large-sized supermarkets will have to sign contracts with a charity group to facilitate food donations.

But contrary to what you might imagine, some charities are against the idea that supermarkets hand them over their out-of-date food.

For Patrice Dallem, from the Red Cross, it would mean unaffordable “logistical and human costs” for charities if it was their responsibility to hand out the food.

Another Frenchman aiming to raise awareness about Europe's wastage is Baptiste Dubanche, who last year undertook a 3,000km journey from Paris to Warsaw surviving solely on food he salvaged from waste bins.
 
“The project has been a way for me to protest,” he told The Local at the time. “If we produced less, food would become more precious to us.”

French people throw away between 20 to 30 kilos (44 to 66 pounds) of food per person per year costing an estimated 12 to 20 billion euros ($13-22 billion) annually.

The government is hoping to slice food waste in half by 2025.

 

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FOOD AND DRINK

Cheese in numbers: France’s obsession with fromage

From cheese types to the amount eaten per year, via cheese favourites - here's a look at how France really feels about fromage.

Cheese in numbers: France’s obsession with fromage

March 27th is the Journée nationale du fromage in France – so here are a few facts about the delicious dairy delicacy.

246

Charles de Gaulle famously once asked of governing France: “How can anyone govern a country with 246 varieties of cheese?”.

His numbers were wrong. Producers in France make closer to 1,000 varieties of cheese – and some have estimated that figure could be pushed up as high as 1,600.

8

The number of cheese ‘families’ in France. A good cheeseboard in France is generally considered to consist of at least three ‘families’ – a soft cheese, a hard cheese and either a blue or a goat’s cheese. Remember, too, an odd number of fromages on a platter is better than an even number, according from cheese etiquettists

READ ALSO France Facts: There are eight cheese families in France

2.5

About how long – in years – it would take you to try every cheese made in France, if you tried a new variety every day. Life goals. 

95

The percentage of people in France who say they eat cheese at least once a week, spending seven percent of their weekly food bill on it.

READ ALSO Best Briehaviour: Your guide to French cheese etiquette

40

Two-fifths of French people say they eat cheese every day

57

The amount of cheese produced, in kilogrammes, in France every second, according to this website, which has a counter to show you how fast that really is. It’s estimated that 1.8 million tonnes of cheese are produced in France every year.

27

The French consume, on average, a whopping 27 kilogrammes of cheese per person per year.

READ ALSO Fonduegate: Why customer service is different in France

3

The three most popular cheeses in France, based on sales, are Emmental, Camembert, and Raclette – followed by mozzarella, goat’s cheese, Comté and Coulommiers.

63

Some 63 cheeses have been awarded the Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée status, which means they can only be produced in a certain region.

1

France has – or at least soon will have – one dedicated cheese museum. 

READ ALSO Three things to know about the new Paris cheese museum

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