Food waste in Spain is "socially and environmentally unsustainable" 

The Minister for Consumer Affairs warns that food waste in Spain is “socially and environmentally unsustainable”.

According to data from the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, each person in Spain wastes 31 kilos of food per year.

And it is not just about individual choices. About 14 per cent food produced is lost between harvest and retail. Another 17 per cent is then wasted in households, foodservice and retail.

Garzon stressed that when food is lost or wasted, all the resources used for its production – water, land, energy, labour and capital – are also wasted.

The Minister said his department is now working on legislation that would encourage supermarkets and other retailers to offer better discounts on food items that are approaching their sell by dates.

This is the first major announcement Garzon has made since he was vilified for suggesting Spaniards should eat less meat earlier this year.

Garzon is the leader of Izquierda Unida, who joined the government as part of Podemos, who in turn formed a coalition with PSOE placing Pedro Sanchez as prime minister. A scathing editorial in ABC, one of Spain’s most respected national daily newspapers, on July 9 said the Ministry of Consumer Affairs is irrelevant and was created only to satisfy Podemos’s demands for ministerial portfolios before they would enter a coalition with PSOE.

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