Preguntas frecuentes

Food waste refers to all food and edible parts intended for human consumption that end up being discarded along the food chain, from retail and catering to our own homes.

The main difference lies in when it occurs. Food loss takes place in the field and during primary production, when crops cannot be marketed or harvested. In contrast, food waste occurs in the final stages, such as distribution, shops, restaurants, and household consumption.

In Catalan households, nearly 174,000 tonnes of food were wasted in 2024. This figure represents more than 21 kg of wasted food per person per year, or about 64 kg per household.

In Catalonia, the value of food thrown away in households exceeds 900 million euros annually, which equals a loss of around 330 euros per household each year.

Food loss and waste generate between 8% and 10% of global greenhouse gas emissions. Beyond emissions, throwing away food means wasting the water, land, energy, and transportation used to produce it.

In households, there is often a lack of meal planning, overbuying, inadequate product storage, or confusion between the use-by date and the best-before date.

At home, we can avoid wasting food by planning our shopping and menus, checking what we already have in the fridge or freezer before buying, storing food properly, and using leftovers to create new recipes.

It is the culinary practice of using surplus ingredients, imperfect produce, or leftovers from other meals to create new high-quality dishes, preventing them from ending up in the trash.

When a fresh product from our organic shop is not sold on time but is still safe to eat, we extend its shelf life by turning it into preserves, juices, or jams, or by featuring it directly on the menu at El Rebost restaurant.

When an item is no longer suitable for consumption, we send it to the composter at the La Selva Seed Bank Garden to turn it into organic matter that closes the loop and nourishes the soil again.