Supermarkets may be forced to give away food for free: what’s behind the initiative
16 May 16:15
Ukraine will introduce a food banking system under which food products from stores nearing their expiration dates will be donated to socially vulnerable groups. Donating food will become mandatory for supermarkets larger than 400 square meters.
This was announced by Dmytro Shkrabatovsky, chairman of the board of the Ukrainian Federation of Food Banks, during a roundtable discussion titled “International and European Food Security Standards and the Development of the Food Banking System in Ukraine,” reports "Komersant Ukrainian" citing “Ukrinform.”
According to him, the network of the Ukrainian Federation of Food Banks (UFFB), established in 2022, includes five food banks and a National Hub. Its partners in 23 regions of Ukraine include 48 charitable organizations. More than a thousand volunteers are involved in the activities of the food banks. During this time, over 4,700 tons of food have been distributed to people. More than 2 million Ukrainians have received assistance from the UFFB.
Watch us on YouTube: important topics – without censorship
At the same time, Shkrabatovsky acknowledged that despite the federation’s success, Ukraine is still far from solving the problem of food preservation, as over 2.7 million tons of food are disposed of each year.
The chairman of the UFPB board said that, drawing on European experience, Ukraine has developed its own draft law on food banks, which defines the basic principles of operation for such institutions and their associations, and implements European standards for reducing food waste—specifically, it establishes an obligation for supermarkets larger than 400 m² to cooperate with food banks by donating unsold, but still edible food products, hygiene products, and household goods.
“Our goal is to reduce food waste by 50%. And the adoption of this bill will allow us to move toward achieving this goal,” Shkrabatovsky emphasized.
He added that this initiative has significant support among Ukrainians. According to a survey by the sociological company “Aktiv Group,” 86.9% of citizens support it.
Supermarkets may not like this
Ales Slavicek, head of the Czech Federation of Food Banks, noted during a roundtable on food banking that retail chains may oppose such a mandatory measure
“If food is still usable, it should be given to people. In the Czech Republic, this has been enshrined in law since 2018. Retail chains didn’t like this law—they took the matter to court but lost the case,” Slavíček said.
Today, the Czech foodbanking organization is considered one of the most developed in Central Europe.
“We have 15 regional banks, one large central hub, and 1,150 civil society organizations working with us. There are 11 million people living in the Czech Republic—10% of them are on the brink of poverty, according to government data. Civil society organizations say it’s actually 20%—that’s 2 million people,” Slavíček continues.
Last year, the Czech food banking organization supported over 400,000 people, 62% of whom were single mothers or elderly people.
“We saved and distributed 17,400 tons of food. The Czech government supported us with 5 million euros, and we provided 31 million euros in aid,” says Slavíček.
What is known about food banking
Every year, Ukraine produces about 3 million tons of food waste—despite the fact that a significant portion of this food is still safe to eat. At the same time, millions of Ukrainians need humanitarian and food aid.
That is why a draft law has been developed that provides for the establishment of food banking networks in Ukraine. Retail chains will receive incentives for donating products nearing their expiration dates. A fine will be imposed for the disposal of food in cases where it could have been donated to meet people’s needs
Read us on Telegram: important topics – without censorship
