The story of food waste doesnt end in the trash can its a starting point for climate change, economic challenges and the empty plates of hundreds of millions. According to the Food Waste Index Report 2024, recent years have seen 19 per cent of food available to consumers wasted, which in turn is responsible for five times the total emissions from the aviation sector and this comes while a third of humanity faces food insecurity.
However, as much as food loss and waste is a systemic issue of global scale, its also an area where individuals, families and communities can readily take action and in creative ways that celebrate culture and tradition.
One foremost fighter of food loss and waste is United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Goodwill Ambassador and globally renowned chef Massmio Bottura, whose Food for Soul initiative runs community kitchens Refettorios, now in nine countries that rely on surplus food for ingredients. Here, Bottura shares how turning attention to food waste is not only an environmentally responsible thing to do, but also an act of memory and beauty.
Q: Why should we worry about food waste?
The greatest amount of food waste happens quite innocently in home kitchens around the world. When we throw away food, we are collectively wasting resources, wasting opportunity and wasting dignity. Reducing food waste is a win for the planet it can cut up to 10 per cent of global emissions. It is also a win for people, turning surplus into billions of meals a day to fight hunger, and a win for the economy, saving nearly US$1 trillion a year. Fighting food waste is one of the simplest, most powerful actions people can take to create a better future for everyone.
Q: Memory shapes taste. How can family traditions and childhood flavors help fight food waste?
Memory is the foundation of taste, and taste is a foundation of culture. I often say that my mother was my first teacher in the kitchen. She respected every crumb. Leftover bread became passatelli in broth, vegetable scraps became minestrone and nothing ended up in the bin. These traditions are not nostalgia; they are lessons in sustainability. When we cook with memory, we are reminded that every ingredient carries history, labor, and love. Reviving those flavors teaches us to honor food not as a disposable commodity, but as a story to be carried forward.
This is the spirit behind my work with Food for Soul, where we transform surplus food into meals that restore dignity and nourish the community. And it is the same spirit behind the UNEP Food Waste Breakthrough, which I support as a UNEP Goodwill Ambassador and UN SDG Advocate reminding the world that reducing food waste is not a side issue. It is central to fighting climate change, hunger and inequality.
Q: How can chefs turn overlooked foods into something extraordinary?
Chefs have the privilege to transform what is overlooked into something extraordinary, and in doing so, they change perceptions. What was once seen as waste becomes culture on a plate. Some of the most renowned recipes all over the world came from the kitchens where people had to make do with what was in the pantry humble, seasonal, local ingredients. Ribollita, paella, feijoada these dishes are monuments to resourcefulness. A bruised peach becomes a granita. Carrot tops become pesto. Stale bread becomes cake.
This is what we practice every day in the Refettorios: we take surplus food destined for landfill and turn it into delicious meals full of dignity and beauty. As a UNEP Goodwill Ambassador, I see it as my duty to inspire others to recognize that the future of gastronomy is not about excess, but about creating beauty through respect.
Q: Youve worked on projects from Modena to Rio. In places like Brazil, resourceful cooking is cultural. What lessons can the world learn from that approach?
Brazil taught me resilience in the kitchen. In the favelas of Rio, I saw families doing with little what many of us fail to do with abundance. Cassava peels are dried and fried, fish bones flavor broths, banana skins become sweets. This is not poor cuisine it is an ingenious cuisine.
Waste is not inevitable it is the result of privilege and disconnection from nature. Communities with fewer resources remind us that true abundance is not endless supply; it is creativity, solidarity, and the transformation of every ingredient into a communal meal.
Q: In their role as influencers, how can chefs spark a movement to bring back zero-waste traditions?
Chefs today hold enormous cultural influence. If we use it only to create luxury, we are missing the point. Zero-waste traditions like fermenting, pickling and curing are not just techniques but are also acts of preservation and wisdom passed from generation to generation. By putting them back on the table, we remind people that they are not old-fashioned; they are the future. At Osteria Francescana, if I celebrate potato skins or bread crusts on a Michelin-starred plate, I give dignity back to what many saw as disposable. At the Refettorios, we do the same for communities in need, proving that scraps can nourish both body and soul. This visibility sparks curiosity, then imitation, then systemic change.
Why did you become a UNEP Goodwill Ambassador?
I carry this role because chefs have a responsibility beyond cooking. Food is culture, memory and care. Through Food for Soul, Ive seen how surplus can restore dignity. Becoming a UNEP Goodwill Ambassador, and later an SDG Advocate, allows me to bring this message to the world: Food is never just food, it is our common future.
The Food Waste Index Report 2024 was in part funded by the UNEP Climate Fund, with contributions from Belgium and Norway.
This article was published for World Food Day. World Food Day 2025 is calling for global collaboration in creating a peaceful, sustainable, prosperous and food-secure future.
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