Interview with The foundation Food Waste Free United: the municipality as a partner in the fight against food waste

In the run-up to the municipal elections, Public Matters spoke with Manon Ensink (Communications & Public Affairs Manager) and Zoë Verdaasdonk (Project Manager) of The foundation Food Waste Free United (STV), a pro bono client of our firm. We discussed their national and local approach, the role of municipalities, and the opportunities for strategically positioning food waste within local policy.

Halving food waste as a joint mission

“We have one important objective: to reduce food waste by 50% by 2030,” Manon begins. “Our activities aimed at consumers are perhaps the most visible, especially during the annual Dutch “Waste-Free Week”. But an important part of our work is focused on businesses, governments and educational institutions.” “We have a network of more than 100 stakeholders. About 80% of them come from the business community, but provinces, municipalities, educational institutions and start-ups are also affiliated,” adds Zoë. According to her, it is precisely this mix that is essential. “Start-ups are the accelerators; they help large companies with smart solutions to combat waste, for example. This creates a broad ecosystem in which parties reinforce each other.”

“We have one important objective: to reduce food waste by 50% by 2030,” Manon begins.

Four lines of action

STV works along four lines of action. Manon explains: “We start with monitoring: identifying where in the process food is lost. We don’t do this at an individual level, but for a cluster of similar companies, such as bakeries or catering. This is important for a joint approach within those clusters; cooperation is essential. The third line focuses on consumers, where we collaborate with the Nutrition Centre, which has knowledge of consumer behaviour. The fourth line of action concerns regulations: removing rules that hinder the reduction of food waste. We are working with Public Matters on this last point in particular.”

Municipalities in the spotlight: concrete tools and local strength

STV developed a series of practical documents on food waste specifically for municipalities, in response to a request from the province of Gelderland. “They noticed that they were far removed from both businesses and residents, and asked us: what can municipalities do in practical terms?” says Zoë.

STV mapped out existing initiatives and identified ‘best practices’, compiling them into an infographic and a building block document. Zoë: “The infographic shows four policy ‘puzzle pieces’: circular economy, sustainability, waste prevention and poverty reduction. Food waste addresses all these themes at once.”

The building blocks document serves as a base: “Municipalities can determine for themselves where they stand, where their energy and capacity lie, and get to work on that. It contains concrete policy and project examples.”

From catering to community centres: municipalities as a lever for change

The projects vary widely: “From catering challenges to adapting their own municipal catering (‘practice what you preach’),” says Zoë. “Some municipalities started working with schools, others brought entrepreneurs together. The Nutrition Centre’s ‘Eetmaatje’ (Eating Buddy) is also widely distributed to residents for use at home.”

Why the focus on municipalities? “Because they are closest to businesses and citizens,” says Manon. “They can start the movement at the bottom that will ultimately lead to changes in legislation and regulations.”

Zoë emphasises that STV operates nationwide, but cannot reach every company or association locally: “We really see a role for municipalities in building local networks. If every municipality does that, a powerful undercurrent will emerge.”

Zoë emphasises that STV operates nationwide, but cannot reach every company or association locally: “We really see a role for municipalities in building local networks. If every municipality does that, a powerful undercurrent will emerge.”

Frontrunners and next steps

Some municipalities are already further ahead than others. “For them, we are starting a cluster with the working title Waste-Free Municipalities,” says Zoë. “This will bring together municipalities with a lot of ambition to share knowledge, set new goals and work together on bigger challenges such as European funds or legislation.”

“The idea is to start in the autumn and then share the lessons learned in webinars so that other municipalities can also benefit,” she concludes.

Conclusion

STV proves that local politics is an important link in realising a circular food system. With concrete tools, policy anchoring and political strategy, food waste becomes not only a sustainability issue, but also an opportunity for social and economic local policy. Those who start locally and follow through with policy lay the foundations for structural change at the national level through lobbying.

Pro bono advice by Public Matters

Public Matters advises organizations on how to gain a position in the political, public, or administrative arena. We believe that professional advocacy should not be reserved only for companies, industry associations, or governments. We are also happy to support organizations that pursue a societal cause and could use an extra push. That is why we provide several organizations each year with pro bono advice.