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IMPORTANT: Where we're
at...Hi guys, Thanks
for bearing with us in recent weeks as we've
looked to raise the necessary funds to keep SFB in
business. The lowdown is that we've managed to
raise around £300/month: just about enough to keep
the show on the road, but sadly not enough to
warrant any increase in our proprietary
journalism. So, for now, we'll keep the weekly
digest going and try to fund the occasional
feature or photo essay through co-publishing
agreements. But, as ever, the message
remains: if you get any value out of the
service we provide, we hope you will consider
becoming one of our sustaining patrons – for
whatever little you could afford to wing our way
each month. Our deal will also remain on the
table: if we cross the £500/month-mark, we'll
publish a new longread or photo essay every week
along with the newsletter; and if we hit
£1000/month, we'll launch a new solutions-focused
podcast. And, of course, a massive,
heartfelt thanks to all you patrons for your kind
and generous support! Ollie Founder
& Editor-in-Chief, Struggles From
Below | |
In
our top read this week, Reasons To Be Cheerful's
Peter Yeung explores Milan's groundbreaking “zero waste”
strategy aiming to leave no meal
behind.
Milan is the first major city
to enforce a citywide food waste policy, relying
on the wide-ranging cooperation of public
agencies, food banks, charities, NGOs,
universities and private businesses.
In
2015, Milan launched a new Food Policy aimed at
creating a more sustainable food system, involving
local players such as the city’s research centres,
institutions, private sector and NGOs as much as
possible. The next year a memorandum of
understanding, entitled “Zero Waste,” was drawn up
to halve food waste by 2030 and implement a new
method for recovering and redistributing surplus
food.
Launched
in January 2019, these Food Waste Hubs collect
produce from supermarkets and companies, as well
as purchased food aid, and give it to hundreds of
Milanese families in need. The Gallaratese
Hub also provides social services such as
legal aid, psychological counselling, language
classes and childcare support. Two other hubs will
launch in other Milan neighbourhoods in the next
few months.
The School of Management of the
Politecnico di Milano, which conducted a
feasibility study of the model and has been
monitoring operations, found that the first hub
saved 77 metric tons of food in the first year,
and that today the city’s three Food Waste Hubs
each recover about 130 metric tons of food per
year, or 350 kilograms per day – equivalent
to 260,000 meals. Through them, according to the
Politecnico, 497 metric tons of CO2 are avoided in
the production and then disposal of food losses
per year. The hubs are also using 30% of food that
would have otherwise gone to waste, compared with
the national average of nine
percent.
Huge gains, societally as
well as environmentally, could be made if progress
continues. The global food system generates a
third of greenhouse gas emissions, yet a third of
all food produced for human consumption goes to
waste – about 1.3 billion metric tons per
year. At the same time, 800 million people, around
a tenth of the world’s population, were
undernourished last year.
“Each city around
the world could apply this model,” says Professor
Segrè, a professor of agricultural policy at the
University of Bologna and scientific director of
the Waste Watcher International Observatory. “You
need some competence, some knowledge, and willing
actors. But you can copy it
easily.” | |
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What we're reading:
Toronto is home to the world’s
largest lake- powered cooling system. Here’s how
it works.
Deep lake water cooling (DLWC) is
used to cool over 100 buildings in the city. It
saves enough electricity to power a town of 25,000
– and it’s so popular the city is pursuing an
expansion. THE WASHINGTON POST
Forget net-zero: meet the
small-nation, carbon-negative club
Forested
Bhutan, Suriname and Panama now absorb more
emissions than they produce. Can other countries
join them? THOMSON REUTERS
FOUNDATION
The ancient stepwells helping to
curb India's water crisis
Huge
architectural gems built deep into the Earth like
inverted fortresses are scattered around India –
and restoring them may be a solution to help the
country's parched communities. BBC
FUTURE
Can farm waste help clean up the
world’s dirty cargo ships?
A California
startup backed by the shipping giant Maersk wants
to turn America’s farm waste into clean fuel for
mammoth container ships. The company, WasteFuel,
is working to build facilities across the country
that produce “bio-methanol” from corn husks,
discarded wheat straw, and other agricultural
scraps — a low-carbon fuel produced in tiny
volumes today. GRIST
More parks and waterways in cities
could prevent premature deaths, study
finds
The study found that up to 43,000
premature deaths could be prevented annually in
more than 1,000 European cities if they achieved
the recommendations set out by the World Health
Organization (WHO) in terms of residential
proximity to green space. THE CONVERSATION
One to ponder:
New technologies are
promising a shortcut to
enlightenment
Brain stimulation.
Neurofeedback. Synthetic psychedelics. Can they
deliver? VOX
Quote of the
week:
"Truth springs
from argument amongst friends." – David
Hume
Song of the
week:
Roberto Roena -
Traición | |
That's it for today, folks. If you're
enjoying this newsletter, please do forward it on to any friends who
might be into it. All the
best, Ollie Founder &
Editor-in-Chief, Struggles From
Below | | |
Copyright ©
2019 Struggles From Below, All rights
reserved.
Our mailing address
is:
Struggles From Below, 48b Waller
Road, London, SE14 5LA
| | | |
