(Seychelles News Agency) - Over 200 kg of food was distributed to around 35 families in the Seychelles’ eastern Mahe district of Roche Caiman on Sunday as part of the “Don’t Waste, Eat!“ food waste reduction programme’.

Families received vegetables, fruits and other food products which included pastries, cakes and bread. The donations were made by SPAR supermarket and a number of hotels which are members of the Seychelles Hospitality and Tourism Association such as Alphonse Island Lodge, Constance Ephelia, Bravo Restaurant, H Resort and Kempinski Seychelles Resort.

“Though a lot of the products are buffet leftovers or had reached their best before date, they are still good for consumption,” said the Seychelles Sustainable Tourism Foundation Project Officer, Rosetta Alcindor.

The “Don’t Waste Eat!” food waste reduction programme was launched in July 2018 by the Seychelles Sustainable Tourism Foundation, (SSTF) in cooperation with Betterfly Tourism --a software publisher for tourism profession. The programme serves to equip staff with necessary skills to measure and monitor food waste, provide hotels with a platform that facilitates monitoring of cost savings and food waste reduction.

This was the second edition of the food donation fair in the programme.

Over 200 kg of food was distributed to around 35 families in the district of Roche Caiman. (Marivel Media) Photo License: CC-BY

"There is more to a food donation than what we usually think. We are not only providing food for the community and diverting good food from the landfill, but we are also putting smiles on families’ faces,” Alcindor told SNA.

A pilot study conducted by SSTF and Betterfly Tourism showed that every year at least 2,664 tonnes of food coming from hotels and restaurants ends up on the landfill.

“As the food is donated, it reduces the demand for importation of food products on the market as families now consume what they were donated, hence avoiding CO2 emissions along the supply chain,” said Alcindor.

According to a study done by Sustainability for Seychelles (S4S) a not-for-profit organisation, 48 percent of what goes to the landfill of the archipelago in the western Indian Ocean, is organic waste. This includes green waste and food waste.

The SSTF aims to steer interest in the development of policies that would give liability protection for food donation, monitoring of food donations, create food safety guidance for food donation and creation of tax incentives where donors and organisations feel encouraged to donate for the wellbeing of our community and our planet.