The cornerstone for identifying and then pursuing the best possible sustainable solution to reduce the loss of fresh fruit and vegetables and organic waste in street markets was laid today by representatives of local government, professionals and social agencies, in the first focused discussion organized on the topic by the Central Market of Thessaloniki (KATH), with the aim of strengthening the collaborations and synergies of those involved to obtain the best results.
The aim of our first focused discussion is to “see how we can save the food that is lost in street markets, in unprotected trade. Given our experience with the implementation of Social Plate and given that KATH SA is at the heart of the distribution chain from the field to the shelf, we felt we had an obligation to share our experience and thus do our best to reduce, if not eliminate, the loss of fresh fruits and vegetables and organic waste”, emphasized to APE-MBE the president of KATH SA, Theodoros Papadopoulos.
“If we, wholesalers, have products that can be recovered, won’t street vendors have them too? That’s what we thought and took the initiative for today’s first meeting and discussion,” he emphasized.
The agencies that enlist
Today’s meeting was attended by representatives of the municipalities of Thessaloniki, Thermi, Kalamaria, Kordelio-Evosmos, Pavlos Melas and Neapolis-Sykeon and among others the president of the Federation of Professional Associations of Producers and Market Vendors of Macedonia – Thessaly – Thrace, Angelos Deretzis, the head of the Operational Agency of People’s Markets, Grigoris Kotsopoulos (lawyer) and representative of the collective effort of a group of people to reduce food waste and at the same time increase food supply in Greece, “We Can”.
“Poroume” is a large partnership networkwhich unites all those who wish to donate food and all non-profit organizations in Greece that support people in situations of food insecurity.
One of the actions of “We Can” is in cooperation with 23 street markets in Athens since 2016 and with 13 in Central Macedonia.
In today’s meeting/discussion of everything that was mentioned, which took place in a particularly positive atmosphere, many and diverse ideas “fell” onto the table and the one that seems to be “gaining” the most ground is the installation of the Solidarity Stand in all public markets which takes place every day in Central Macedonia and where consumers and professionals will be able to leave their products. In the next period, discussions and the necessary ferments will take place to find the formula that will allow the implementation of the action, initially in a pilot phase and with the aim of becoming permanent in the future.