{"id":33746,"date":"2021-05-18T05:30:49","date_gmt":"2021-05-18T03:30:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/?p=33746"},"modified":"2021-05-17T01:10:06","modified_gmt":"2021-05-16T23:10:06","slug":"novel-solution-to-food-waste","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/novel-solution-to-food-waste\/","title":{"rendered":"A novel solution to food waste"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sustainability is a topic we hear a lot about these days. Global initiatives like the United Nations Goals for Sustainable Development<\/a> encourage all of us to think about ways that we can help ensure that our home remains vibrant and viable. This week I came across a novel solution to food waste that might help with UN Objective 2, Gaspillez moins la nourriture et soutenez l\u2019agriculture locale.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Photo by\u00a0Christian West<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0from\u00a0Pexels<\/a><\/strong> [CC0]<\/p><\/div>\n

A novel solution to food waste<\/h3>\n

Every year, over $1,000,000,000,0001<\/a><\/sup>one trillion!<\/span> worth of food – as much as one-third of all food produced – is wasted2<\/a><\/sup>UNEP<\/a>; WFPUSA<\/a><\/span>. “Le gaspillage alimentaire est d\u00e9fini comme toute nourriture destin\u00e9e \u00e0 la consommation humaine qui, \u00e0 une \u00e9tape de la cha\u00eene alimentaire, est perdue, jet\u00e9e ou d\u00e9grad\u00e9e.<\/strong><\/a>“3<\/a><\/sup>Food waste is defined as any food destined for human consumption that, at any stage of the distribution cycle, is lost, thrown away, or damaged.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

With a goal of reducing food waste by half, France in 2016 was the first country in the world to legislate a broad set of laws aimed at reducing food waste. “Sa principale mesure consiste \u00e0 obliger chaque supermarch\u00e9 de plus de 400 m\u00b2 \u00e0 rechercher un partenariat avec une association d’aide alimentaire pour lui c\u00e9der ses invendus alimentaires, au lieu des les jeter ou de les d\u00e9truire<\/strong><\/a>.”4<\/a><\/sup>The main measures require supermarkets larger than 400 m2 to seek out partnerships with food-based charities to give them unsold merchandise instead of throwing it out or destroying it.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

While the law has had a positive impact, 33% of food waste happens during the\u00a0phase de consommation<\/strong>5<\/a><\/sup>during consumption; in the home<\/em><\/span>, representing 30 kg per person, per year including 7 kg of food thrown out still in it’s original packaging6<\/a><\/sup>Minist\u00e8re de la Transition \u00c9cologique<\/a><\/span>. The town of Saint-Cernin in the Cantal region of France has come up with their own novel solution called “Une poule \u00e0 la maison<\/strong>“. The town administration made available a chicken for any of the inhabitants who were interested. Now over half of the town’s 300 homes has their very own poule<\/strong> who can not only consume as much as 150 kg of kitchen scraps a year but will also provide the home owners with des\u00a0<\/strong>\u0153ufs<\/b>!\u00a0 Check it out here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Ivre ou so\u00fbl?<\/strong><\/p>\n

While I would never encourage anyone to drink too much, l’abus d’alcool nuit \u00e0 la sant\u00e9<\/strong>7<\/a><\/sup>too much alcohol is bad for your health<\/em><\/span>, I heard a beautiful phrase this week that I thought was worth pausing to explore. The great Fanny Ardant8<\/a><\/sup>You can catch her in the French film 8 Femmes<\/em><\/a> … or see her dance in the video for the fun Mika song Elle me dit<\/em><\/a>.<\/span> in Chic! (un com\u00e9die romantique<\/strong>\/romcom<\/em> centered on the fashion world. Cliquez ici pour la bande announce<\/a>.<\/strong>9<\/a><\/sup>Click here to see the trailer.<\/em><\/span>) tells a new love interest “Non tu ne me so\u00fble pas, tu m’enivres.<\/strong>”<\/p>\n

The French adjectives so\u00fbl<\/strong> and ivre<\/strong> are synonyms that both mean drunk<\/strong> \u2026 Il (ou elle) est ivre<\/strong> means the same thing as Il (ou elle) est so\u00fbl.e<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>… both mean that\u00a0He (or she) is drunk.\u00a0<\/em>The corresponding verbs are also synonymous but, at least when used idiomatically, they can have slightly different meanings, different meanings that give Fanny’s quote above its charm.<\/p>\n

While both expressions mean\u00a0to make drunk,\u00a0<\/em>when used metaphorically the two split in opposite directions. The verb so\u00fbler<\/strong> (to make drunk<\/em>) when used metaphorically has connotations of providing too much of something in a negative way<\/em>. If someone says to you “Tu me so\u00fbles \u2026<\/strong> ” it means your annoying them, they\u2019ve had enough, \u2026 where as with ivre<\/strong> you can be ivre mort.e<\/strong>10<\/a><\/sup>dead drunk<\/em><\/span> but also ivre d’amour<\/strong>11<\/a><\/sup>drunk on love<\/em><\/span> or ivre de bonheur<\/strong>12<\/a><\/sup>drunk on happiness<\/em><\/span> (Le petit Larousse Grand Format, 200013<\/a><\/sup>There’s something charming (to me at least) about a book called “The small\/little Larousse, large format! \ud83d\ude09<\/span>).<\/div>\n

More deep thoughts from de la Rochefoucauld<\/a><\/h3>\n

168<\/strong><\/p>\n

L’esperance, toute trompeuse qu’elle est, sert au moins \u00e0 nous mener \u00e0 la fin de la vie par un chemin agr\u00e9able.<\/b><\/p>\n

Ouvrir<\/a><\/h4>\n
Hope, as misleading as she can be, serves at least to make life’s journey more pleasant.<\/em><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

174<\/strong><\/p>\n

Il vaut mieux employer notre esprit \u00e0 supporter les infortunes qui nous arrivent qu’\u00e0 pr\u00e9voir\u00a0celles qui peuvent arriver.<\/b><\/p>\n

Ouvrir<\/a><\/h4>\n
Better to employ our energy dealing with the misfortunes that befall us than planning for those that could.<\/em><\/div>\n<\/div>\n