The Italian Senate aims to cut up to one million tonnes of wasted food a year by offering incentives to businesses who donate food to charities and starting new programmes to reduce food waste in schools, hospitals and other public canteens.<\/p>\n
The law earmarked \u20ac10 million to launch the initiative, including \u20ac1 million annually to fund innovative food waste reduction projects, as well as \u20ac2 million to buy food for the poor. It also gives tax breaks for giving away food and removes a number of bureaucratic hurdles that made businesses wary about violating health and safety laws by donating food marginally past its sell-by date.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur farmers are already doing this at the markets with the leftover produce, but with this new law, instead of just doing it in a friendly, informal way, it can be donated directly to soup kitchens or other charities,\u201d said Nicola De Ieso, spokesman for the farmers\u2019 association Coldiretti in Campania.<\/p>\n
For the ordinary consumer, it will make it easier to request \u201cfamily bags\u201d (sometimes known as the \u201cdoggy bag\u201d ) to take home unfinished food ordered at restaurants, a practice that was previously rare in Italy.<\/p>\n