From September 26, 2018
Original article in Russian can be found here.
(Machine-translated with google translate and then manually smoothened)
Foodsharing is gaining popularity in Moscow
by Maria Belenkaya
Photos Ivan EroFeev (click the link on top to see them)
Residents of the city save food from being wasted
The organizer of the Moscow foodsharing movement Anna Uspenskaya tells what to do with surplus products to help the family budget, poor people and the whole planet.
Start with yourself
It often happens that the food we do not have time to eat ends up in the trash. According to Anna, the step “number zero” is freezing or processing: “You can cook a dish that will be stored for a few more days if it’s vegetables that need to be cut or meat.”
Give to neighbors
“The next thing is to think whether it is possible to give to relatives or neighbors,” Anna continues.
Find out who needs free food, maybe there is a concierge or a senior at your home. Neighbors are often given fruits and vegetables, sometimes even ready meals.
Explain your angle
“First it will be surprising, but it’s worth to tell why the food is left over and you want to give it away,” Anna adds. “For example, if you had a large harvest of courgettes or pumpkins in your garden which can’t possibly eat all by yourself.” In the end, you will find someone who will be grateful for food.
Post in social networks
In “VKontakte” there are groups called “Foodsharing. I’ll give food for free” for different cities, including for Moscow and the region. There they offer pieces of pies, a cut watermelon, tea …
“There you can write an announcement, and pretty quickly someone who needs your food, will take it,” - says Anna.
Volunteer
If you want to save more than your own food from being wasted, welcome to the foodsharing movement, which saves prepared food from organizations. Volunteers go there, pick up the food and can take a part for themselves, but the rest must be distributed to others.
Thinking about others
Everyone who independently distributes food and assists the movement must take care of its safety. Here Anna has one piece of advice: “If you ate it yourself, but for some reason you do not have time to finish it, then you can share it.” If you do not want to eat, because it’s spoiled, you should not share it either. "
How Foodsharing works in Moscow
For more than three years the organized foodsharing movement had been going on in the capital. In order to reduce the amount of good food that is found in landfills, volunteers take the decommissioned products from cafes, bakeries, canteens and private, non-chain stores.
According to Anna Uspenskaya, such enterprises want their products to be sent to people in need. Therefore, the food saved by volunteers is transferred to non-profit organizations that care for large families, single mothers and single pensioners. In addition, products from foodsharing are used in dinners for people in need, including homeless people.
If you want to become a volunteer, you need to understand that this is can be quite some effort. Soups, for example, should be taken in large quantities which means pots up to five liters. Even volunteers without cars sometimes have to carry and distribute 10-12 kg of products. “It’s a job,” says Anna, “it’s not just coming and taking food for yourself.”
More about foodsharing Moscow can be read in this post from Anna Uspenskaya on foodsaving.today.