According to a report called “Do Not Waste Food 2024”, 45 percent of Poles admit that they throw away food. Although the proportion of people declaring that they do not waste food has significantly increased, still about 5 million tons of food end up in the garbage every year. Experts argue that more initiatives are needed that could help save this food. One of them is “Punkt pod Parasolem” (Point Under the Umbrella), run by the Food Bank SOS in Warsaw, which delivers food to the needy. About 2.5 million Poles live in poverty, and approximately 1.5 million use help from food banks.
“In Poland, we still waste food – about 5 million tons. More and more people declare that they do not waste food, but around 45 percent admit that they occasionally throw away food,” says Agnieszka Deja, vice president of the Food Bank SOS in Warsaw. “We waste most food at home – that is 60 percent of these 5 million tons of food annually. At the production stage, it is about 15 percent, and shops and trade are responsible for 7 percent.”
This means that households throw away almost 3 million tons a year. The report of the Federation of Polish Food Banks “Do Not Waste Food 2024” shows that bread, cold cuts, vegetables, and fruits most often end up in waste bins. About 27 percent of people admit that they throw away food a few times a month (+ 3 percentage points compared to 2023), and 17 percent admit that it happens at least once a week (-2 percentage points). Frequent food waste is mainly due to the expiration of the best before date, improper meal planning, excessive shopping, and improper food storage. Importantly, the proportion of people admitting to throwing away food has decreased by 11 percentage points compared to 2023. Twenty-two percent of respondents say they throw away food less often.
Wasting food is not only an ecological and economic problem but also a social one. In 2022, 1.4 million people benefited from the food aid of partner organizations of food banks, and a year later – 1.5 million.
“Food is still a significant need for many people. According to the latest research, about 2.5 million people live in poverty in Poland. These people very often cannot afford food or have to choose whether to buy medicines, pay for housing, or buy food,” says the vice president of the Food Bank SOS in Warsaw.
In the Federation of Polish Food Bank’s study from 2023, cited in the European Anti-Poverty Network’s “Poverty Watch 2024” report, over 77 percent of households using the assistance of food banks said their financial situation had worsened over the past year. More than half admitted that their income was not enough to meet basic needs, and about 45 percent said they could meet basic needs, but larger purchases required earlier planning. Almost 60 percent admitted that they recently had to buy food with borrowed money.
When it comes to experiencing hunger due to financial reasons, 36 percent of respondents said they had found themselves in such situations from time to time (56 percent of this group), as a one-off occurrence (26 percent), or often (19 percent).
“There are data showing that 1/3 of the food we produce globally is wasted, it goes to the trash. At the same time, about a quarter of this third would be enough to help solve the world’s hunger problem. This is a simplification, but I think it interestingly shows that undernourishment and hunger are not necessarily a production problem but a logistic one,” says Małgorzata Żurowska, a social project and sustainable development leader at Glovo.
Two years ago, the Food Bank SOS in Warsaw launched “Punkt pod Parasolem” in Warsaw’s Wola district, where food saved from wasting, provided by the largest retail chains in Poland, is then delivered to the poorest people.
“‘Punkt pod Parasolem’ has been operating since May 2022, and to date, we have donated over 173 thousand kg of food. Such points are much needed. Between 800 and 1,000 people come to us for food each month. There are both regular individuals as well as an increasing number of new people who hear about this place from friends or read about it on our website. If we have so much food to share and pass on, we do so,” says Agnieszka Deja.
For a year now, in cooperation with Glovo Polska, the Food Bank SOS in Warsaw has been implementing the Social Delivery Centers initiative, within which elderly, sick, or people with mobility problems (e.g., single mothers with children) can count on courier food delivery from the point to home. The project uses the Glovo Access platform, which provides free deliveries for non-governmental organizations.
“Social Delivery Centers are small warehouses in city centers, which aim to save food from being wasted. This food is stored, packed into packages, and distributed to those in need with the support of Glovo deliveries,” says Małgorzata Żurowska. “We already have such points in Barcelona and Madrid, and the third is ‘Punkt pod Parasolem’ in Warsaw. Instead of developing this point from scratch, we entered into cooperation with the Food Bank and took care of the already existing point to support its development. Compared to traditional food bank warehouses, which are large and often on the outskirts of cities, the Social Delivery Centers we run are closer to the city center to be closer to shops, restaurants, and residents.”
“‘Punkt pod Parasolem’ is our first and so far the only food distribution point. We also work with over a hundred non-governmental organizations, our partner organizations, which receive food from us and then redistribute it. Of course, this is a challenge: there are more and more people in need, so there is a growing need for such points. But they can be established if there is cooperation with the local government and if there are resources, that is premises, people we employ, and volunteers,” explains Agnieszka Deja. “Let’s not forget that the food bank’s daily task is to obtain food. It is not always the case that we receive phone calls that there is food and we come with it, but we also have to actively contact potential donors, producers. This is 80 percent of our work.”
She emphasizes that, apart from engaging donors, legislative issues are also important. For food banks, the ongoing amendment to the law on food wasting is crucial, which will make it easier to protect food from being wasted and to manage it. According to the planned amendment, every shop with an area of over 250 square meters will have to have a contract signed with an organization that will be picking up food. For these entities, the fee for each ton of wasted food, i.e., food passed on for disposal, is to be raised.
“I think these fees will encourage earlier food distribution to the needy,” assesses the expert. “Of course, we also need infrastructure and good logistical systems for managing food with a short expiry date. This is a challenge for food banks. We also need consumer education, but also education for companies, sellers, those who manage and handle large amounts of food.”
