Description
Trentino Solidarity Economy Day 2025 Launch of the "Eat me again" campaign The Autonomous Province of Trento, with the Provincial Solidarity Economy Table and the Food Waste Reduction Table, presents "Eat me again", a social campaign dedicated to reducing domestic food waste. The initiative aims to remind people that everyone, with small gestures and responsible behaviour, can contribute to reducing food waste, leading small individual and daily actions to add up to big positive impacts on the environment.
"Eat me again" invites citizens to retrieve a food item from the "almost" forgotten fridge, use it to prepare a dish and share two photos - before and after - via Instagram and Facebook stories. The campaign works as a chain of participation: each person publishes the two photos in their own stories starting from the "It's your turn" sticker found in the stories of the social profiles of Economia Solidale Trentina. Thanks to this tool, each contribution becomes visible to those who participate, creating a continuous flow of linked stories showing the recovered food and the final dishes.
In this way, individual action is transformed into a shared story, in which each gesture feeds the chain and amplifies its impact. The phenomenon: problems, impacts and data The issue of food waste remains central at both European and local level. According to Eurostat, some 59 million tonnes of food waste is generated in the European Union every year, equivalent to 132 kg per capita, and more than half of this waste occurs in households . In fact, households are the main component of the problem, with 72 kg of food wasted per head, much more than catering, production or distribution. The scenario in Trentino also confirms this trend. Every year more than 38,000 tonnes of organic fraction are collected, a figure that highlights how much food continues to go uneaten. At the same time, the territory shows a great capacity for mobilisation: in 2023, thanks to the work of the Provincial Table for Waste Reduction and Surplus Distribution and the contribution of about 800 volunteers, 1,677,519 kg of food surpluses were recovered, still fully usable by families and people in difficulty.
These numbers tell a double story: on the one hand, a still significant level of domestic waste; on the other, a strong territorial network, capable of activating effective solutions. "Eat me again" fits into this context, proposing a concrete and immediate change that starts in the home kitchen and extends to the community thanks to online sharing. Why December is a decisive month The weeks leading up to the Christmas holidays are among the most critical of the year when it comes to domestic food waste. Families buy more than they need, plan large lunches, prepare elaborate meals and often end up with leftovers, forgotten food or food they cannot consume in time. This leads to a significant increase in waste, which could be avoided with more awareness and a few small measures.
"Eat me again" fits exactly into this context: it was created to propose an alternative, inviting people to change their perspective on food during a time of year that, while rich in conviviality, is also marked by excessive shopping and waste. The aim is not to moralise, but to offer a simple tool for concrete and creative action.
A campaignbuilt together The campaign is being developed within the framework of the 2025 Trentino Solidarity Economy Day, which promotes sustainable practices, territorial networks and responsible consumption models. The Tavolo dell'Economia Solidale (Solidarity Economy Table) and the Tavolo provinciale per la riduzione degli sprechiati (Provincial Table for Waste Reduction) have worked together to build an initiative capable of speaking to different audiences: young people, families, sustainability-conscious people and anyone who wants to experience a simple but useful gesture. The decision to use social networks stems from the desire to engage in an immediate way, with accessible language and in a way that allows anyone to participate, regardless of their digital skills and with a special focus on the younger generations.
The "Eat me again" campaign: how it works The challenge is open to allə and consists of three clear steps, designed to be intuitive even for those who are not used to using social networks regularly:
1. Cook with what you have Choose an "almost forgotten" ingredient: a leftover that can still be processed, a product close to expiry, a vegetable in the fridge that has been waiting for days, or a food shelved due to lack of time or inspiration.
2. Take two photos The first photo shows the recovered ingredient, as it is, before cooking it. The second focuses on its transformation into a final dish, simple or elaborate it doesn't matter: what matters is to give value back to something that was about to be thrown away.
3. Share in stories Upload the two photos in Instagram or Facebook stories using the template available on the official channels of Economia Solidale Trentina. The instructions speak for themselves. The photos are collected to create a chain that becomes a public account of the good practices spread throughout the territory.
The campaign requires no special culinary skills: the goal is not the perfect dish, but the choice not to waste. Those who participate contribute to a collective action that is nourished by many small gestures. 'Eat me again' will run from 12 December until the end of December.