Sustainable food in the social and solidarity economy: a strong complementary relationship

The Daniel and Nina Carasso Foundation has recently published a new study on Sustainable diet food in the social and solidarity economy (SSE)

The study aims to give voice to grassroots activists leading new initiatives to transform the food system and to explore how SSE can be used to imagine and develop a new framework. The study explores points where the food and SSE value chains meet, providing practical information to launch or identify areas of development.

“With this modest research, we hope to help change the scale of current solutions, and to introduce the values of a sustainable and socially responsible transition — our aim for the past 10 years — in the economic realm” said Marie-Stéphane Maradeix, General Delegate of the Daniel and Nina Carrasso Foundation.

Get ready for compostable packaging

The issue of food waste is high on the agenda and has generated considerable interest in the recent years. In addition to the morality of reducing food waste, an essential element for our survival, there are many other arguments, including restoring value to our food.

Several laws to combat food waste have come into force in recent years. As the law for a circular economy enters its final phase, a new survey reveals that French consumers are ready for compostable packaging:

• 89% of French consumers think that more food should be packed in compostable packaging rather than plastic;
• 88% are prepared to include or are already adding compostable packaging into their household or communal compost;
• 65% of respondents are willing to pay more for products sold in compostable packaging;
• 93% of respondents sort their waste and 45% already compost their food and organic waste. . 

These figures show that the French public is open to a rapid transformation of eating habits – transformations that are already underway across the country, as well in other parts of the world, like in San Francisco, the first zero waste city.

School meals and local production: a lever for achieving sustainable development objectives

School meals are a vital element in the nutrition of many young people around the world and offer many benefits for both health and education. Today, “at least 368 million children are fed at school everyday thanks to school meal programmes” (WFP, FAO, IFAD, 2017). This industry addresses a crucial stage in children’s healthy development, as well as for local economic and social development.

In order to help transitioning towards a more sustainable and inclusive food system, the Let’s Food association and Eating City present a comparative approach to different mass catering systems, highlighting best practices with regard to sustainable development objectives.

A brilliant initiative

La Tablée des chefs, an association of committed chefs whose mission is to feed people in need and to develop culinary education for young people, have reacted to the health crisis with their “Solidarity Kitchens” operation in France and Canada. Thanks to restaurateurs, volunteers, chefs and donors, 35,000 dishes were produced between the first and second lockdown in France, and more than 2,000,000 meals were prepared and distributed in Canada.

The aim of the operation was to cook healthy, high-quality meals for food banks, which have seen their numbers grow exponentially.

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