'They Collected What Was Left of the Scraps': Food Surplus as an Opportunity and Its Legal Incentives

Abstract

For many years the problem of food security has been addressed only in relation to developing countries, due to the fact that people in developed nations had a relatively abundant supply of food. This is not anymore true both because of the economic crisis and an increasing demand of food at the global level. Therefore, food surplus in the food chain both at the production level and at household consumption could become a resource.In this respect, legal rules (e.g., the Good Samaritan Act in the United States) may provide incentives to economic agents for recovering food surplus. This paper examines in a comparative way legal remedies provided by United States and European Union to address food surplus.Some suggestions are provided to further improve the systems as well.

Surplus Food Recovery and Food Aid: The Pivotal Role of Non-profit Organisations. Insights From Italy and Germany

“…Consequently, all the actors involved in the process of food donation, recovery and distribution must comply with the regulation in terms of liability, traceability, food health and safety (Deloitte 2014). Therefore, such liability makes many companies reluctant to donate to avoid the risk of damaging their own reputation after cases of food poisoning or general misuse (Planchenstainer 2012;Deloitte 2014). To overcome companies' reluctance to donate for liability implications, France has recently approved a law that, besides defining a national food use hierarchy, has proclaimed it illegal for large retailersunder certain conditions-not to donate their unsold food products to charities (Law n°2016-138) .…”

“…However, Italy due to its so-called ''Good Samaritan Law'' stands out compared to other countries in terms of policies supporting food recovery. The burden of liability on donated products and the dread of misuse by non-profit organisations make many companies reluctant to donate to avoid the risk of damaging their reputation (Planchenstainer 2012;Deloitte 2014). With the Good Samaritan Law, non-profit organisations receiving the donation are regarded as final consumers.…”

The adaptive change of the Italian Food Bank foundation: a case study

“…The solution to some problems requires a managerial and professional approach, as emerges not only from the interviews and the data collected, but also from the literature review on food banks; food banks should be aware of the importance of a suitable managerial approach in achieving their charitable aims and it should understand that professionalization of management does not necessarily imply businessification of their aims and scopes. Some signals indicate that Europe is going to see some changes in the future: the ongoing debate among the Commission, the Parliament and the EU Member Countries underlines the importance given to the issues of food waste and food recovery in Europe (Planchenstainer, 2013). The FEAD program 2014-2020 (FEAD or MDP program) has been recently launched, with a total budget of 3.5 billion Euros to be split over seven years; thus, the average budget for each year accounts for 500 millione euros, which is only what the MDP program had for food, since the new program is supposed to cover other initiatives such as those regarding mental health, and at a time of growing need.…”

The Darkest Hour: Private Information Control and the End of Democratic Science

“…The Republic of Science is governed and justified by the inherent respect for tradition and value of scientific contribution, but at the same time it remains dynamic because existing knowledge may be challenged by new, original results. Respect for authority and tradition and for the value of scientific contributions is counterbalanced by the wish for originality that drives progress 13 .…”