Get food for free with food sharing - Here's how!

Food Sharing is an organization that campaigns against the bizarre waste of food. Every year, 11 million tons of food are thrown away in Germany, but much of it is still edible. In this article, I would like to explain to you what exactly food sharing is, how food sharing works and in which cities food sharing is already available for free. You'll also get tips on how to Reduce food waste simply by following your heart.
Here is a small table of contents beforehand:

1. What is food sharing?
2. Problem
3. How does food sharing work?
4. Locations
5. Hurdles
6. How you can get involved with food sharing
7. Food Sharing Apps

What is food sharing?

Foodsharing is an initiative against food and food waste. It is about saving food that would otherwise end up in the bin. There are already 3,000 businesses and 25,000 volunteers taking part in the food sharing concept. The number is constantly growing. Food sharers have already saved a total of 7.8 million kilograms of food. What a great achievement! There are also around 1000 pick-ups every day, where you can also get food for free. Food sharing runs on a voluntary basis, which means that everything takes place without payment. Food Sharing is a non-profit organization and is non-commercial.

The five demands of Food Sharing:

1. The federal government is to develop a national strategy to cut food waste in half by 2030.
2. Food Sharing is calling for mandatory recording and documentation of food losses in agriculture, industry and retail. The data collected should also be made transparently available for research purposes.
3. Supermarkets must be legally obliged to donate unsold goods that are still edible to social organizations before they are thrown away.
4. Food Sharing demands legal certainty for all activities of food rescuers and food sharers. The organization and the fair sharers must not be treated like a commercial food business.
5. The best-before date and use-by date must be clearly understandable for everyone.

The problem with food waste

Why is food sharing so important? It's simple: according to an FAO study, around a third of edible (!) food is thrown away. Food waste is estimated at 1.3 billion tons per year. This is bad for our ecological footprint. Because if everyone lived the way we do in Germany, we would need three Earths instead of one. This is an incredibly big problem that many people unfortunately underestimate. Food sharing is one of the best ways to actively combat food waste. Food sharing is so effective because everyone can contribute in a simple way and get free food. There are no excuses not to participate! In the article Tips against food waste you'll get more valuable tips to reduce overall food waste.

Getting food for free - how does it work?

As mentioned above, food sharing only works thanks to volunteers and donations. The food sharers, who have to qualify beforehand, collect the food from stores, restaurants and the like. These are then taken to the so-called Fairteiler. There, everyone can help themselves freely to the food. Thanks to the efforts of the food sharers, hundreds of kilos of food are saved every day in Germany. More and more restaurants and supermarkets are deciding to set an example against food waste. Instead of throwing the food away, they are cooperating with food sharing. This creates a win-win situation for everyone, in the spirit of the Zero Waste Lifestyle. This is because restaurants and supermarkets don't have to worry about throwing away food, which saves them money.

Food Sharing Fair Divider Locations

Fair dividers are located in different places. Sometimes they are located in the city center, sometimes it is a refrigerator in a restaurant. Food sharing fair dividers can now be found in many German cities and the number is constantly increasing! Here you can take a look at the locations of the previous fair distributors. Nothing going on in your town yet? Don't worry! It's easier than you think to set up your own Fairteiler! Just inform yourself here!

The hurdles of food sharing

Unfortunately, the organization is not always easy. Food sharing has repeatedly had to deal with unjustified accusations from outside. The fact that they were to be classified as a food business in Berlin, for example, meant that they faced legal hurdles. If this is the case, individual donors to the organization are obliged to be checked. According to the Berlin State Secretary for Consumer Protection, every person who places food on the market must be classified as a food business operator under the law. As soon as food sharing is classified as a food business, the entire concept of food sharing must be changed. The state would then have to scrutinize every donor. The organization naturally wants to avoid this.
Another problem that has emerged in recent years is the hygiene allegations. The authorities claimed that Foodsharing was not taking sufficient care of the distributors. Foodsharing rejected these accusations. The food sharers regularly clean and check the fair distributors.

How you can get involved with food sharing

It's easy to join in! Food Sharing encourages everyone to actively pay attention to their own consumption. A shopping list is designed to help with this. If you think about what you want to buy before you go shopping, you reduce the risk of wasting food. Are you interested in joining the organization? You can register as a food sharer on the official website. There you have to fill in a form with some information about yourself. This is followed by a short quiz about food sharing. You will then be contacted by an ambassador from your region. You can then discuss everything else with the ambassador.
You can get more information on the official website of Foodsharing.

Food Sharing Apps

Unfortunately, there is not yet an official "Food Sharing" app for the whole of Germany. However, there are other great apps that offer a great alternative. I would like to introduce you to some of them. All food sharing apps are of course free of charge.

Food Sharing with Too Good To Go 

With this food sharing app, the name says it all. Too Good To Go is about saving food from stores and restaurants by selling it for a very reasonable price. This creates a win-win situation. The companies earn a little money from the food they would otherwise throw away and the customers get a delicious meal at a reasonable price. Companies that would like to participate in the project can simply register. If you are a customer, registration is not even necessary. The app shows you the businesses in your area that are registered with the app and are offering something today. You can find your city by entering the zip code or the name of the city in the sustainable search engine you enter. Simple yet great design and very easy to use! I am a huge fan of this food sharing app and have been using it for quite a while.
Here you can get the app in the Apple AppStore
The app is available for Android phones here in the Google PlayStore

Food Sharing with Olio

Do you still have half of last Sunday's cake left? Then there's bound to be someone in the neighborhood who would like a slice. Olio can help. The app is not yet very widespread in German-speaking countries, but it certainly has a chance of making a big splash. The food sharing app allows you to share food from your neighborhood that can be saved.
In the App Store you can find the app Olio here
Here's the app Olio in the Google PlayStore
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=56&v=AdVt92QOUSQ

Food Sharing with ResQ Club

A start-up that was only founded in 2016. It works in a similar way to Olio. And just like Olio, the app needs to get around first - it is not yet available in some cities. There is already a lot going on in Berlin and other major cities. Here, too, it's worth taking a look and waiting a little while for the app to develop its full potential.
The app is available here in the Apple AppStore
For Android phones, the app is available here in the PlayStore

Food Sharing in Social Media

There are already many food sharing groups on Facebook where you can give away food. Have a look to see if your city is already involved. If not, you could be the one to get the ball rolling.

Food Sharing against food waste

As you can see, food sharing has already achieved a lot! The more people find out about the topic, the bigger the movement becomes. Food sharing is a great alternative to food waste, where you too can get free food. And what about you personally?

Do you have any questions or suggestions, or have you already had experiences with food sharing? Then feel free to write me a comment.

Stay sustainable,

PS: Are you also interested in healthy eating? Then take a look at the article Nutrition and the environment - Healthy food for a good climate on!