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| Campaign to cut supermarket food waste reaches European parliament | Campaign to cut supermarket food waste reaches European parliament |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| A French councillor’s campaign to stamp out food waste by forcing supermarkets to give unwanted items to charity will reach the European level on Wednesday. | A French councillor’s campaign to stamp out food waste by forcing supermarkets to give unwanted items to charity will reach the European level on Wednesday. |
| Arash Derambarsh, who has already persuaded the French government to pass a law barring shops from destroying food as it approaches its sell-by date, hopes the European parliament will approve an amendment to a new “circular economy” law encouraging individual member states to follow suit. | Arash Derambarsh, who has already persuaded the French government to pass a law barring shops from destroying food as it approaches its sell-by date, hopes the European parliament will approve an amendment to a new “circular economy” law encouraging individual member states to follow suit. |
| Derambarsh, a municipal councillor in Courbevoie, north-west of Paris, said he was confident the amended law would be approved during Wednesday’s proposed vote, describing it as historic. | Derambarsh, a municipal councillor in Courbevoie, north-west of Paris, said he was confident the amended law would be approved during Wednesday’s proposed vote, describing it as historic. |
| Related: France to force big supermarkets to give unsold food to charities | Related: France to force big supermarkets to give unsold food to charities |
| “This is such an important issue and we have to work fast before the food lobbies get together and start opposing us,” he said. | “This is such an important issue and we have to work fast before the food lobbies get together and start opposing us,” he said. |
| “I set a deadline of getting the law passed in France and Europe within a year, and we’re six months in, so we’re doing well. After that, it’s the world.” | “I set a deadline of getting the law passed in France and Europe within a year, and we’re six months in, so we’re doing well. After that, it’s the world.” |
| If Wednesday’s law is approved, Derambarsh said it would go before the European commission president, Jean-Claude Juncker, who would decide if and when it should be applied. | If Wednesday’s law is approved, Derambarsh said it would go before the European commission president, Jean-Claude Juncker, who would decide if and when it should be applied. |
| Derambarsh said: “I call on Mr Juncker to sign it immediately so it can be applied now. This is the most important legislation of the year and we cannot lose time.” | Derambarsh said: “I call on Mr Juncker to sign it immediately so it can be applied now. This is the most important legislation of the year and we cannot lose time.” |
| The councillor started his campaign by collecting unsold food from his local supermarket. He and a team of helpers personally distributed it to the needy, many of them pensioners, families struggling in poverty, and people living on the streets and in shelters. | |
| A petition backing the law launched in seven European countries including Britain, has more than 539,000 signatures. | |
| Derambarsh has the backing of the French MEPs Nicole Fontaine, a former European parliament president, and Angélique Delahaye, of the Républicains party, who introduced the amendment into the law. | |
| The French law, passed in May, obliges large supermarkets and food stores to sign an agreement with a charitable organisation by next year. | The French law, passed in May, obliges large supermarkets and food stores to sign an agreement with a charitable organisation by next year. |
| Related: Man who forced French supermarkets to donate food wants to take law global | Related: Man who forced French supermarkets to donate food wants to take law global |
| During a recent visit to Italy, Derambarsh also enlisted the support of Gina Lollobrigida, the former actor and UN goodwill ambassador. | |
| The amendment calls on the European commission to “promote in member states the creation of conventions proposing that retail food sector distribute their unsold products to charity associations”. | The amendment calls on the European commission to “promote in member states the creation of conventions proposing that retail food sector distribute their unsold products to charity associations”. |
| Derambarsh is planning to table the issue – via the campaign group ONE, founded by U2 singer Bono – in September when the United Nations discusses its millennium development goals to end poverty in September, as well as at the G20 economic summit in Turkey in November and the COP21 environment conference in Paris in December. | Derambarsh is planning to table the issue – via the campaign group ONE, founded by U2 singer Bono – in September when the United Nations discusses its millennium development goals to end poverty in September, as well as at the G20 economic summit in Turkey in November and the COP21 environment conference in Paris in December. |
| Derambarsh, a lawyer whose family moved to Paris to escape the Islamic revolution in Iran in 1979, is a member of Nicolas Sarkozy’s rightwing Républicains party. Critics have accused him of trying to further his own political career by creating a media storm over food waste. | Derambarsh, a lawyer whose family moved to Paris to escape the Islamic revolution in Iran in 1979, is a member of Nicolas Sarkozy’s rightwing Républicains party. Critics have accused him of trying to further his own political career by creating a media storm over food waste. |
| The 35-year-old admits he is engaged in what he calls a press “blitzkrieg”, but only to raise awareness of the “scandalous and utterly absurd” situation where food is thrown away or destroyed with bleach “while people go hungry”. | |
| He cited his team’s success working with their local Carrefour supermarket since last October. | |
| “In Courbevoie we collect 40kg of unsold food worth around €500[£350] and we are able to help 100 people. Imagine what that translates to on a European level. With this law we can bring immediate relief to the poor and hungry,” he said. | |
| Derambarsh, who says he is also working with the non-profit organisation Action Against Hunger (ACF) and the French Red Cross, added: “It’s true that these kind of issues are normally associated with socialist politicians, but when it comes to thirst and hunger, there should be no political divide. These issues cut across national and political lines. It’s something we can all agree on. | |
| “The job of any politician is to help people, my objective is to help people who are hungry,” he said. | |
| An estimated 7.1m tonnes of food is binned in France each year – 67% of it by consumers, 15% by restaurants and 11% by shops. The figure for food waste across the EU is 89m tonnes, while an estimated 1.3bn tonnes are wasted worldwide. |