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Galway, Ireland 

GERALDINE RYAN
Everyone enjoys to sit around and enjoy food together, um, so it is, um, an opportunity for social engagement and just a check in with somebody to see how they’re doing and you know, how everything’s going for them so food is quite powerful. 

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COPE Galway is a non-profit organization that serves the homeless, victims of domestic violence, and senior citizens. 

GERALDINE RYAN
So, many of our services have food provided within their services. Obviously, we are working on a very small budget. So, the food surplus that we receive from our food rescue initiatives helps us to provide a greater variety, and it helps us manage our budget as well. 

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So far, they have saved over 25,000 kilograms of food from going to the landfill. 

GERALDINE RYAN
How it works is COPE Galway, we receive a notification from the retailer, our food rescue volunteers, err, uh, respond to that by going to the business, they collect the food, they return here to our community catering facility, where we have fridges and freezers to store the food, um, until our professional chefs go through them and grade them, we then very quickly turn it around so within 24 hours, that food has gone from being saved from food waste, to actually being enjoyed by people. 

GERALDINE RYAN
In one of our services, the children were at play and learning, but there, you know, had been, a lovely plate of different berries placed out for them to pick at enjoy while they were playing around. It was one of the first times that one of the children had tasted, actually tasted, a raspberry and blueberry. 

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What can we do to stop food waste? 

GERALDINE RYAN
Open the fridge, and use the food you have, rather than going to the shop more regularly and buying it, um, a little bit more creative in thinking, and making a shopping list, I guess, so you’re buying really what you need. 

GERALDINE RYAN
Every single person in every age group have a part to play in ensuring that no food goes to waste.