A third of all our food ends up in the waste bin. A pity, thinks Freke van Nimwegen (29). As co-founder of restaurant Instock, which cooks with products that would otherwise be thrown away, she puts food waste on the map.
Food waste is close to your heart. Why? Freke:'The figures for food waste are shocking:in the Netherlands we throw away five billion euros worth of food every year. It is about fifty kilos per person. If you are a little aware of the environment, you know what impact that has. It is not only the product itself that you throw away. All energy that has been put into cultivation, packaging, transport, cooling and preparation is also lost.'
How did Instock originate?
'I did a management traineeship at Ahold and was an assistant supermarket manager at Albert Heijn for a year. Every day I was confronted with food waste. At the end of the day, unsold products such as bread, fruit and vegetables were removed, while they were still edible. Frustrating, couldn't it be otherwise? While brainstorming, my colleagues Selma, Bart, Merel and I came up with the idea of a restaurant where these products are used. An idea that works both ways:we literally save kilos of food and at the same time we make people aware of food waste in a positive way. We were given the opportunity to implement our idea under the wings of Albert Heijn and restaurant Instock was a fact in June 2014.'
Restaurant Instock, Czaar Peterstraat 21, Amsterdam
Read the entire interview with Freke in the July issue of Santé.
Text:Belinda Fallaux | Photography:Bart Honingh | Make-up:Linda Huiberts
