A Flemish family throws away an average of €508 worth of edible food annually, according to a study by waste management agency OVAM released on Friday.
OVAM’s spokesperson, Jan Verheyen, emphasised that this waste does not include fruit or potato peelings but perfectly edible leftovers. The study compared food waste in residual and organic waste streams against the average Flemish family’s annual food expenditure. An average family in Flanders spends €6,355 on groceries each year, with up to 8% ending up as waste, equivalent to around 21.84 kilos.
In response, OVAM launched a campaign a few days before International Food Loss Day on Sunday 29 September. Their website, features an AI chatbot that generates recipes based on ingredients left in the fridge.
Participants could win an exclusive leftover dinner prepared by three-star chef Tim Boury. The competition is open from Friday. The website also provides tips for students and businesses to reduce food waste or donate their excess through platforms like Too Good To Go.
The European statistics office, Eurostat, also examined food waste and found that the average European discarded 72 kilos of food in 2022, including both edible and inedible waste. In comparison, the average person in Flanders wasted 52.3 kilos.
"By European standards, Flanders is doing quite well," Verheyen concluded. "However, our main message remains to avoid throwing away edible food."
