An initiative to abolish VAT on donated food was submitted to the Serbian Parliament. Solving the problem of food waste and facilitating food donations would have an impact on poverty reduction, but also on the preservation of natural resources, which are becoming less and less.
Three times as much is thrown in the world of all food in the world is wasted than is needed to feed the hungry - about 1,3 billion tons annually end up in garbage.
Officially, between 770.000 and 900.000 tons of food is thrown away in Serbia annually.
The economic calculation, based on the analysis from 2020, shows that by reducing the VAT, the revenue to the state coffers would decrease by about 25 million dinars, but that the value of donated food would increase by about 160 million dinars.
An initiative was submitted to the Serbian Parliament to abolish VAT on donated food and thus encourage producers and traders to direct it towards soup kitchens and similar organizations. A reduction in VAT on donated food would certainly make it easier for companies to donate food to those in need.
Another country could be fed from wasted food
Director of the Federation of Banks of Serbia, Aleksandar Vidaković, tells "Vreme" that he is familiar with the initiative, but that he has been waiting for some kind of progress for years.
The Federation of Food Banks has seven banks throughout Serbia. It also has more than 400 associations, soup kitchens and feeds about 480.000 users.
"We try to help people who are not officially recognized as social cases. On Stara planina alone, we have, for example, 1500 elderly households that we help through the Knjaževac folk kitchen," says Vidaković.
He adds that the amount that is thrown away and burned annually can feed not only Serbia but also another country in the region.
"There is an ecological aspect because the pollution is huge when organic food is burned." Also, companies incur large costs when destroying food," says Vidaković.
Hungry children who don't know about bananas
He also notes that this is a problem for the entire society, and that it would be necessary to involve environmentalists and companies along with all competent institutions.
Cooked food, for example, he says, cannot be donated, so there remains a tremendous amount of food from restaurants, bakeries, catering, which is thrown away, while children are also starving all over Serbia.
"Hungry children in Trgovište do not know what bananas are. They eat peppers because it is available to them. It's really sad. All donations are directed to Belgrade, Kragujevac, Niš. But when you go a little further to Kuršumli, Medveđa, you wouldn't believe how people live", says Vidaković.
In Serbia, about 123.000 children live below the absolute poverty line, which means that they are hungry, and food is, for example, He throws wildly at weddings.
Chef Dejan Stankovic previously told "Vreme" that approximately nine and a half tons of food is thrown away in Belgrade in one weekend.
Food waste also affects climate change
Every day when we throw away 20 million slices of bread, greenhouse gas emissions equal to those produced by more than 140.000 cars a year are created.
That's the result of research by the Waste and Resource Action Program (VRAP), a charity that works with businesses, communities and people to help reduce waste and use resources efficiently.
By solving the problem of food waste and increased food donations, we not only work on the problem of poverty, but this is also a much broader issue that also affects the preservation of the environment.
Food waste does not only mean that the food is disposed of somewhere, money, water, energy, land and transport are also wasted.
Food waste can even contribute to climate change, as it is often sent to landfills, where it is left to rot and produce methane gas.
If food waste were a country, it would be the third largest emitter of greenhouse gases after America and China.
The price of a Big Mac meal in Serbia has doubled in a decade. It is true that average wages have also doubled, but what does the price of a Big Mac tell us about inflation, purchasing power, living standards, and the daily life of citizens who believe that Serbia is an "economic tiger"
The introduction of sanctions on the Serbian oil industry has been announced since the beginning of the year, and several delays followed. What citizens say, who is to blame for the unpredictable future of NIS
Serbia should sign a long-term gas supply contract with Russia, claims Srbijagas director Dušan Bajatović
According to the latest amendments to the Detailed Regulation Plan, the entrances to the tunnel are planned in the extension of the old Sava Bridge, which will be replaced by a new one, and exits on the side of the Danube slope near the MUP building. It takes a year to set up the mole that will dig the tunnel
The General Secretary of the International Bureau for Exhibitions, Dimitri Kerkezes, says that the costs for the Expo in Serbia are up to 1,3 billion euros with all the necessary infrastructure, and that he knows nothing about the 18 billion that the Government of Serbia presented for this project. He emphasizes that it is not a project for an individual or a group, but for the entire nation
Aleksandar Vučić now has only the old, proven methods of classic dictatorships left, because these modern methods of insanity and poisoning the public are failing. And that, however, goes against his head
Vučić is not defending the state, but himself from the state. With a drum on his back and a guitar in his hands, this man-orchestra performs two or three of the same songs without hearing, with falsifications and falling out of rhythm. His government and politics are like that. In short - dangerous for the environment
Arrests of professors, punishment of people, firing of journalists... The regime of Aleksandar Vučić is shining and is yet to shine. It is the decadent phase of the regime, the one towards the end
The archive of the weekly Vreme includes all our digital editions, since the very beginning of our work. All issues can be downloaded in PDF format, by purchasing the digital edition, or you can read all available texts from the selected issue.
See all
