Webinar | From data to action: How to reduce food waste in European healthcare

February 16 | 16:00 – 17:00 CET
Register here 

Hospitals across Europe face many challenges when trying to prevent and reduce food waste (and related emissions) in healthcare. With our recently concluded project, we have produced a tool to measure food waste, and help address this important issue.

Over the past three years, HCWH Europe and the Hospital of Niort have run the MECAHF project, a pilot project to measure and reduce food waste. Reducing food waste not only helps to reduce the negative environmental impacts of the healthcare sector, but can also benefit patients’ health and help reduce costs, allowing for further investment in healthy and sustainable food as part of the overall procurement process.

With this pilot project, we have demonstrated that catering services in healthcare can play an important role in making food a fundamental part of patient and staff satisfaction with healthcare services, as well as reducing the environmental impact of hospitals. The project has also shown us that involving a wide range of stakeholders, including patients and local, organic farmers, is essential in developing and implementing sustainable food strategies within hospitals that help to prevent and reduce food waste.

A key objective of the MECAHF project, is raise awareness and share the experience of the Hospital of Niort, by scaling up their success across the European healthcare, we can accelerate the transition to sustainable food systems in healthcare.

Towards the end of 2020, the project concluded with a virtual conference, where the results of the measurement were presented in French (you can learn more about this event here). On February 16 at 16:00 CET we would like to present some of the project outcomes, in particular, the set of measurement tools that were created as part of the project - these tools can firstly measure food waste and related carbon emissions and they can also calculate the projected impacts of changing the quantity, source, and type of foods purchased.

A key objective of the MECAHF project, is raise awareness and share the experience of the Hospital of Niort, by scaling up their success across the European healthcare, we can accelerate the transition to sustainable food systems in healthcare.

In this webinar we will:

• Present key outcomes from the MECAHF project.
• Share tools to measure food waste and the carbon impact of food purchases.
• Highlight challenges and opportunities to prevent food waste in healthcare settings.
• Discuss and identify further room for action to support the communication and dissemination of the project results, and inspire other hospitals and healthcare providers to start tackling food waste.

Speakers

Paola HERNANDEZ OLIVAN, Food Policy and Projects Officer - Health Care Without Harm Europe

Paola oversees HCWH Europe’s Sustainable Food programme, advocating for food systems within healthcare that conserve and renew natural resources, advance social justice and animal welfare, build community wealth, and fulfil all of our nutritional needs both now and in the future. She leads the MECAHF project (Modèle d'économie circulaire pour les hôpitaux français) in collaboration with the Hospital of Niort.

Register here