Welfare organisation W13's food distribution platform, Food Act 13, saved just over 477.7 tonnes of fresh food from going to waste in Southwest Flanders in 2024, the platform announced on Monday. This was roughly the same amount as in the previous year,
The surplus food is distributed among social and welfare organisations, with most of the donations coming from branches of the Colruyt Group.
In recent years, Food Act 13 collected nearly 2.5 million kilogrammes of fresh food from some 60 supermarkets, local traders, and farmers. In addition to Colruyt, a large producer of prepared meals and the West Flanders Food Bank are also regular donors.
“Fruit and vegetables consistently make up about half of all collected food,” Food Act 13 coordinator Arnout Vercruysse said.
“Dairy, prepared meals, and drinks complete the top five, Vercruysse added. “About 96% of the food was distributed among 90 social organisations, such as local food distribution centres.”
The remaining 4% was either discarded as it could not be distributed in time or was distributed after January 1.
The organisation is seeking additional funding. “We want to partly renew our fleet of vehicles,” said outgoing W13 chairman Philippe De Coene. “Our aim is to approach potential new partners, which is essential as a new refrigerated truck costs around €65,000.”
