We opened a street exhibition of artworks on the theme of food waste on 30 August 2022 in the centre of the 2nd district. The thought-provoking drawings were selected from the best entries from our programme’s drawing competition. The street exhibition, which will run until the end of October, aims to appeal to passers-by who linger in front of the drawings and encourage them to think about how they could have prevented food from ending up in the bin before they throw it away next time.
Food waste is one of the most significant sustainability issues, raising not only environmental but also moral and economic questions. In Hungary, around 1.8 million tonnes of food waste is produced every year. A significant proportion of this – around one third – is produced in households. On average, we produce 65 kg of food waste per person per year in our households, half of which could be avoided. If we consider the annual waste of the Hungarian population, we have enough to feed half a million people for 1 year.
We are facing a problem that, for once, would require not more money but more attention. Our programme, which focuses on preventing food waste, pays particular attention to educating children, the consumers of the future. Our summer drawing competition also aimed to educate children about food waste, its impact on the environment and how to prevent it. We received 291 entries from 133 schools across the country, and the most outstanding and thought-provoking entries are displayed in the street exhibition.
Speaking about the drawings at the opening ceremony, Dr. Márton Oravecz, President of Nébih, said that the young artists’ perspective on food waste is the way we should all be looking at it, and this gives us hope for the future. Dr. Gyula Kasza, head of our programme, said that he hoped that the children’s entries would encourage adults to take a moment to think about how they can help reduce food waste. A special guest at the award ceremony was Hajnalka Kliment, a teacher at the Karolina Catholic Primary School in Vác, as one of the participants drew a picture of her, entitled Teacher Hajni the Food Saver.
The exhibition will be on display until the end of October at the corner of Kitaibel Pál Street and Kis Rókus Street in Budapest’s 2nd district.
The winning drawings are also available on our Facebook page:
Primary category: https://bit.ly/3e6QPh8
Secondary category: https://bit.ly/3TrvIpT
Special Prize winners: https://bit.ly/3QUgYy5