The Nationalist Party, through the Spokesperson for Social and Affordable Accommodation and the Fight Against Poverty Ivan Bartolo, presented a Private Member's Bill in Parliament on Monday with the aim of reducing food waste.
Bartolo had previously told The Malta Independent on Sunday that “malnutrition, food waste and food insecurity are overlooked, and this is not just in Malta.”
“This issue isn’t merely ‘potentially underrated collateral damage of the pandemic’ as the Centre for Economic Policy and Research claimed in 2021 or a direct consequence of Russia’s war in Ukraine. It’s also because we take food and nature for granted,” Bartolo had said.
“I am concerned that in the EU and around the world, climate change and pesticides are killing bees and pollinators, creating a major threat to food security. Moreover, rising food prices are also affecting food consumption and nutritional choices, all factors which contribute towards a low quality of life.”
Because “poverty is linked to all of these factors, the PN is attempting to push through legislation regarding food waste in a bid to increase the sustainability of the production, distribution and consumption of food, particularly with regard to the latter two as they are the most wasteful.”
In a statement released by the PN Monday, the party said that “official figures of the At-Risk-of-Poverty-or-Exclusion rate (AROPE), in 2022 reached 20% of the population.”
Considering that, according to official figures, each person generates about 135 kilogrammes of food waste each year at the domestic units level, it is crucial that our country takes immediate action to ensure that food as an essential resource for a healthy and sustainable living society is distributed with the least waste possible among the entire population and that no citizen is left behind due to their social or financial situation, the statement went on.
“The PN puts those who have been left behind in life at the centre of our work and through this draft law, we believe that everyone should have access to healthy and nutritious food. In order for this to happen, we need a commitment to reduce food waste.”
The bill aims to reduce food waste through several channels:
By encouraging the recovery and donation of surplus food for the purpose of social solidarity among people;
Mitigating the negative impacts on the environment and natural resources by taking actions that reduce food waste and the generation of waste from food;
Promoting the reuse and recycling of food in order to extend the life cycle of food; and
Promoting research and awareness of information among consumers about all the matters needed to reduce food waste and the generation of waste from food.
“This PN policy on food waste goes hand in hand with a sustainable environmental policy and is the first step to start eradicating poverty,” the statement read.
Along with Deputy Ivan Bartolo, for the presentation of this bill to Speaker of the House Anglu Farrugia, there were PN Whip Robert Cutajar and the Spokesperson for Agriculture and Fisheries Toni Bezzina.