Today is the 4th UN International Day of Food Loss and Waste. This week the FoodCloud team was very busy with a number of important projects and events that I would like to share with you.

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I attended the Annual Convention of European Food Banks Federation, FEBA, where food banks from across Europe are coming together to discuss how we can keep up with increased demand for surplus food, while establishing what a sustainable and long-term future looks like for food banking, as well as how to best combine the social and environmental impact of our activities. It was energising to be in the company of so many changemakers, all working together to prevent food waste while supplying food to those most in need.

Meanwhile in Letterkenny, FoodCloud's Emily Fitzsimons met Minister Charlie McConalogue to discuss our Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine funded Growers’ Project. The project aims to rescue more surplus produce from Irish growers and redistribute it to community and voluntary organisations thereby reducing farm level food waste and supporting those in our communities who need it most. After a successful pilot last year, supported by Tesco Ireland and Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, we are now expanding the project with our partners Donegal Local Development Company and Food Share (Kerry), with the engagement of growers Julian Hughes , Kilmore Potatoes, Dole Food Company, Moore Produce and Alan Feighery Farm and with the logistical support of BWG Value Centre Letterkenny. We are aiming to rescue 60 tonnes of surplus produce through the project this year and scaling further from there.

Finally, today we launched our carbon calculator, funded by the Irish Environmental Protection Agency, which allows us to better calculate the carbon footprint of our activities, and the carbon saved by redistributing surplus. This will allow us to improve our reporting to our +200 food industry partners, to support their increasing ESG reporting requirements and also encourage more donations of surplus food to meet the increasing demand for food in our communities.

FoodCloud has a vision for a world where no good food goes to waste. We hope and believe our activities can continue to support and inspire others to drive accelerated action towards reaching SDG 12.3, reducing food waste by 50% by 2030, and food loss all along the supply chain; and SDG 2, zero hunger.

There are only 75 months left until 2030 so we have a lot of work to do but I believe we can do it. A big Thank You to the food waste heroes in our +200 food industry partners and +650 charity partners across Ireland, the FoodCloud team and volunteers, our corporate and funding partners, and our international partners across Europe and beyond.

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Aoibheann O'Brien
Co-founder and interim CEO