The world wastes over one billion tons of food every year. Much of that waste happens in cities, where more than 70% of global food is consumed and where food waste remains one of the largest components of municipal solid waste.
Our next UNDP SDG Local Solutions Series focus on “How are cities preventing food waste?”, exploring how local governments are turning tools like organic waste separation, food rescue and redistribution, composting, and public education into practical solutions.
Date: 26 August 2026
Time: 9:00 a.m. NY time
Register here
The session draws on two city case studies that illustrate distinct but complementary approaches to preventing and managing food waste in cities.
Budapest in Hungary, is launching a new initiative to turn edible fruits and vegetables that remain unsold in the city markets, into ready-to-use or partially prepared foods to be distributed to vulnerable residents. Over a two-year roll out, the city will use the market unsold produce to supply the nearly twenty nursing homes and social institutions run by the city metropolitan government, as well as the city’s school catering service, which provides up to three meals a day to more than 16,000 students and close to 2,000 adults through roughly 100 kitchens and over 1.7 million meals. The model will turn food surplus into healthy meals for students and seniors, cutting waste and costs and supporting local producers. It will complement Budapest’s broader efforts to expand organic waste collection and composting across its districts.
In Medellín, Colombia, roughly 232,000 residents face food insecurity, and only about 82,000 are currently included in the city’s food distribution system. The city government is proposing to recover edible surplus from the private sector and the city’s markets for distribution through the city’s food banks. The system will incorporate a new digital distribution system that matches need with supply, optimises distribution micro-logistics, and reaches priorities more quickly.
Both cities are winners of the 2025 Mayors Challenge.
Download the concept note here.
SPEAKERS
Lina Marcela Chavarriaga Maya
Technical Undersecretary of the Medellín Secretariat of Social Inclusion and Family, City of Medellín, Colombia
Anett Lehóczki
Senior Project Manager, Municipality of Budapest, Hungary
MODERATOR
Fernanda Romero
Waste Policy Lead, UNEP Brazil Office