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https://www.npr.org/2024/01/02/1221356114/mexico-city-food-waste-central-de-abastos>
'MEXICO CITY — The Central de Abastos, with more than half a million daily
visitors, feels more like a city than a market. Stretching across 800 acres on
the eastern side of the Mexican metropolis, this wholesale produce market is
the machine that feeds tens of millions of people every day.
It is also a huge source of food waste, with hundreds of tons of unsold
vegetables and fruit consigned to dumpsters at the close of each market day.
But since 2020, the government-run Central de Abastos has pioneered an approach
to redirecting some of that unused produce into the mouths of the hungry — a
program that has contributed to reducing the market's daily food waste by 24%
and delivered almost 800 tons of food to soup kitchens.
From the early hours of dawn, this wholesale bazaar is a hive of activity as
buyers from markets far and wide come to select produce for the day's
business. Walking around the market can be hazardous, as 19,000 workers race
dollies and wheelbarrows loaded with crates between produce stands and trucks.
"Thirty to 40,000 tons of food is sold here daily," says Graciela de Paz
Fuentes, the director of innovation and projects at the market for Mexico
City's government. "Products arrive from every state in Mexico and 15 to 20
countries. ... It supplies 356 public markets and over 900 roving markets, as
well as countless mom-and-pop shops across the metropolitan area."
This food hub also shines a spotlight on a major problem for Mexico and the
world: food waste. In 2019, Mexico City officials estimated 565 tons of organic
waste — everything from overripe fruit to onion skins and cut flower stems —
ended up in dumpsters in the parking lots behind the Central de Abastos'
beautiful produce displays every day. Government programs, including the soup
kitchen donation program, lowered that total to 428 tons per day in 2022.'
Via Kenny Chaffin.
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
