How he changes the world: Philippe, who is currently confined in France, shares his knowledge about how to save money by reducing food waste. 
His testimony is part of our #confinementstories series.

“It’s high time we rethink the ways we consume our food! The economic, financial, sanitary and political crisis we are facing these days force us to find ways to save money. 

And one of the best ways to do so is to maximize all the outputs for the food ingredients we buy. Did you know for example that you can use the carrot leaves to do you own pesto? It will be way cheaper than the imported one you will find in stores!:)  You can also do carrot chips or use its peels to do your own broth. 

This is how I make myself useful during confinement. By giving webinars on the theme of food waste, with the help of MakeSense NGO and a Lebanese student. The idea is to share how you can consume better and cheaper in times of crisis. 

I started getting interested in food waste 5 years ago. At that time, I was working with local producers in Lyon, France, promoting their products. This is when my whole vision of food changed; this is when I understood how hard the job of producers was. I learned that each year, in the world, 1.3 billion tons of food are thrown away. Almost half of them are fruits and vegetables that don’t fit the “beauty criteria”(size, appearance) of the food industry. At the same time, more that 815 million people are hungry around the world. Which is insane! 

When I came back to Beirut in 2018, I opened an organic shop. I quickly realized that we had a lot of unsold products that were still good to eat. I used to give them to people in need. But I wanted to do more, that’s how I had the idea of Too Good To Waste: I collect the “ugly” fruits and vegetables that no one wants to buy , and with the help of a caterer, I transform them into delicious meals, juices, jams and soups. Parts of the revenues go to NGOs that work to fight hunger in Lebanon.
I want to change the consumers’ attitude towards ugly products.  Some studies even suggest that they are more nutritious than the beautiful ones!” 

Philippe Rahbe is the founder of Too Good To Waste, a social enterprise whose aim is to reduce food waste in Lebanon and in the Middle East 

#becausewearealllockeddown #becausewealllovelabneh