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France Law Prohibits Food Waste

Note: This article is hosted here for archival purposes only. It does not necessarily represent the values of the Iron Warrior or Waterloo Engineering Society in the present day.

France has done it again. Being one of the world leaders of fashion and food, it has gone somewhere no other country has ventured before: it has made it illegal for grocery stores to throw away edible food.

It is well known that food being wasted and thrown away accounts for one third of all the food that is produced worldwide, making it a very serious issue. The French’s love for food spurred on the unanimous support of French Parliament for the new law. Now this revolutionary decision could possibly set a precedence for many other developed countries of the world.

Essentially, the law passed forbids grocers to throw out the food, and instead forces them to donate the food to charity or use it as animal feed. One would think that would be the better choice to throwing out the food into the trash and dispose of it as waste, so why wasn’t this already adopted? Apparently, people are too greedy and only think of themselves and their own conveniences. Grocers that continue to throw out the food could be slapped with a €75 000 ($82 000 CAD) fine, a far worse result than just donating it away to charities. The charities can then in turn distribute it appropriately, whether it is to the homeless people living on the streets, or to other organizations in need of it.

This is definitely a decision that will send ripples through the food industry in all developed countries. It is something so sensible, but no one had the guts to impose it on grocers. Leftover produce may have no more use at the grocery store, but it doesn’t mean a more unfortunate soul couldn’t use it. Finally a country has decided, with no opposition, to make the first step to rectify some of the glaring problems in the world today. Props to the French!

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