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From 2015 to today, Italy's weekly per capita food waste fell by 95 grams, from 650 grams to 555.8 grams. Awareness of the link between waste and environmental impact is growing, but the target set for 2030 - to reach 369.7 grams - still seems a long way off.
In 2025, ten years after the launch of the UN Agenda 2030 and nine years after the Gadda law against food waste, Italy continues to record values higher than the European average: progress is being made, but the pace remains insufficient.
Food waste is weighing on the family budget, and not. Besides citizens who take care not to throw away food, there are also those who thoughtlessly throw away what is left on their plates.
However, we must first work towards eliminating waste, starting with ourselves. How? A few simple interventions will get you a long way.
10 simple rules we can all apply
Shopping List
It starts even before you sit down at the table to eat by writing down what you really need based on your real needs.
In-season and nearby
Choose seasonal produce and buy it directly from the producer. Especially for fruits and vegetables. This will assure freshness and lower prices.
Store groceries properly in the fridge
As we know, each shelf has its own temperature and is suitable for certain foods. But not everything necessarily needs to be stored in the refrigerator.
Freezing produce
Freezing vegetables is especially useful if you need to process large quantities quickly, especially if sourcing from your own vegetable garden. This option is also beneficial if you want to stock up for the winter, so that you have a few portions of 'summer vegetables' at hand, even after the fall.
Clean pantry and sealed, reusable containers
It's very important to keep the pantry clean to avoid attracting insects and pests. Therefore, it's convenient to use hard, sealable containers for storing products such as pasta and flour.
Labels and expiration date
It's very important to read food labels and pay close attention to the expiration date, but also to know that some products can be consumed for several days after the expiry date on the package.
Quantities
Let's not overdo it. Try to serve the portions you need in to avoid unnecessary waste.
Maintenance of refrigerator and cooktop
This is useful to prevent energy waste and thus also reduce the risk of high energy bills.
Recipes with leftovers
If there's anything left over after a sumptuous lunch or a rich dinner, you can eat it the next day or reuse it in new, tasty dishes.
Foodsharing
If there's too much food and you can't freeze or process it, there's another solution: sharing with friends and neighbors.
(©GreenMe.it 2026/Managing Editor: Selma Keshkire - The Press Junction/Picture: ©Birucao via Unsplash)