Matt Payton/Independent
If only this was the law all over the world, the issue of starvation might not be as dire. Supermarkets in France have been banned from throwing away or spoiling unsold food by law. The stores are now required to donate unwanted food to charities and food banks. To stop foragers, some supermarkets have poured bleach over the discarded food or storing binned food in locked warehouses.
Carrefour supermarket. (Photo courtesy: Reuters)
This law was voted unanimously by the French senate on Wednesday after a petition was launched by Courbevoie councillor Arash Derambarsh. It will apply to any supermarket with a footprint of 400 square metres or larger.
If companies flout the law they could incur fines up to 3750 Euros. Jacques Bailet from Banques Alimentaires, a network of Food banks, told the Guardian:”Most importantly, because supermarkets will be obliged to sign a donation deal with charities, we’ll be able to increase the quality and diversity of food we get and distribute. That is very important for food banks because this is a real source of quality products, coming straight from the factory.”
Derambarsh is now looking to get an EU-wide law banning supermarket food waste.
To read more, click here:
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/french-law-bans-supermarkets-throwing-away-and-spoiling-unsold-food-giving-them-to-food-banks-and-a6855371.html
