Erasmus+ IN2FOOD National Seminar (Online) on Food Waste Management

The first local Erasmus+ IN2FOOD National Seminar on  Food Waste Management themed “Sustainable Food Waste Management Towards National Food Security” was successfully held on 7 - 8 October 2021 and hosted by BINUS University. This seminar was organized collectively by Indonesian academics of the Erasmus+ IN2FOOD project consortium, together in a special collaboration with  NUNI (Nationwide University Network in Indonesia, a college consortium) to:

• provide an understanding, awareness, and insights into food waste which needs to be considered and managed properly in Indonesia;  
• provide an educational platform about food waste management among universities; 
• share information on the best practices and research related to food waste management; 
• provide updated information about food waste management methods according to cultural values ​​and local wisdom; 
• optimize technology in food waste management. 

This national seminar was conducted online for two days with 4 keynote speakers and in-depth presentations in  several parallel  sessions attended by academia, students, and practitioners.

 

Angela  Tanoesoedibjo  from the Indonesia Ministry of Tourism gave the opening remarks at this national seminar. On the first day of the event, 7 October, a total of 240 were in the audience from various universities and related industry.

 

Next was Dr  Tammara  Soma, an Indonesian scholar from Simon Fraser  University, Canada who presented her extensive research findings entitled “Transforming Food Consumption and Handling Food Waste: A Case Study of Bogor Indonesia.” Dr Tammara shared her early interest in food since she was a little girl, when she helped her mother with the groceries. The experience of shopping with her mother and seeing various foods in a supermarket turned out to be an inspiration for Dr. Tammara to continue her study of food until her doctorate degree. In her long research, Dr Tammara revealed the history and development of Indonesia’s supermarkets, and even the far reaching concept of researching the contents of the refrigerators of various groups of Indonesians to see the waste generated by each level of society.

 

During the second session, Dr Emil Kaburuan from BINUS University presented his valuable research themed  “Waste Bank Innovation Towards Zero Food Waste”.  Bank of Trash (Bank Sampah), or Waste Bank could  be monetized if we could manage trash. However, food waste, according to Dr Emil, if not handled properly, could have "deadly" repercussions. The innovation of Waste Bank in Indonesia had helped people to sort and recycle their trash. In his conclusion, Dr Emil also pointed out that the Waste Bank concept has the potential to be an educational center for recycling waste management and organic waste processing.

 

In the closing of the first day, Mr Faisal Tjandraatmaja as Head of Certification in Indonesian Hotel and Restaurant Association Center (BPP PHRI) shared his 25+ years of global experience in handling food waste in hotels and the tourism industry. With his extensive varied industry experience, Mr Faisal Tjandraatmaja gave valuable recommendations  for local and practical  food waste management, strategies to prevent and manage food waste, a simple audit process in food waste tracking, and food donations.

 

On 7 October 2021, there were a total of 26 academic presenters from various universities with their research findings in food waste management. These academic presenters came from Universitas Parahyangan (UNPAR), Universitas Indonesia (UI), Bogor Agricultural University (IPB), Universitas SatyaWacana,  Universitas Sanata Dharma, Universitas Ma Chung (UMC), Universitas Pembangunan Jaya (UPJ), and National Kaohsiung University of Science and Technology, Taiwan. All of the presenters gave their detailed research findings in the hope to contribute for a better food waste management in Indonesia and to strengthen Indonesia’s National Food Security.

 

BINUS University was also honoured with the presence of  Prof Dr Budi Widianarko, one of Indonesian top professors in the field of Food Ecology and Food Safety, as an expert speaker in the closing presentation of this national seminar. He had continuously contributed  in this field for more than 26 years. 

 

Marked by the closing speech of BINUS’s Rector, Dr Harjanto Prabowo, this national seminar came to its successful conclusion as a result of strong cooperation of several international university partners including Simon Fraser University, Ghent University, Tampere University, and The Hotelschool of  the Hague, together with Indonesia’s local universities, and experts as industry practitioners. It was our fervent hope that all of the knowledge shared during the seminar could give valuable contribution to  food technology and a conscious effort towards food waste management.