Federal prize for "Bodenschätze"  [02.05.19]

"This is the Oscar for food savers," said Federal Minister Julia Klöckner, summarizing what the "Too Good to Throw Away" award is all about. At the awards ceremony in Berlin on Wednesday, the Minister presented awards to a total of 7 outstanding ideas and innovations for reducing food waste. The project "Bodenschätze" - a cooperation project between the Gemüsehof Hörz in Filderstadt and Humboldt reloaded - also won a €5000 prize. After a successful start last year, the popular bag of crooked vegetables will be available again in 2019 on advance order in the TMS.

 

In the past, these vegetables were scorned for their blemishes. In the meantime it has a real fan community on campus. And now it is even in the limelight in Berlin: Crooked vegetables from Bioland-Hof Hörz in Filderstadt. This was made possible by committed students at the University of Hohenheim and the Humboldt reloaded team, among others.

 

Background: New chance for second choice vegetables

In the past, Gemüsehof Hörz had to leave about 40 percent of its harvest on the field or sort it out. There was nothing wrong with the taste, but due to visual defects (too small, too crooked, etc.) the second choice vegetables were very difficult to market.

In an interdisciplinary Humboldt reloaded project, Hohenheim students examined the problem from different perspectives. Among other things, they also studied the willingness of their fellow students to buy these vegetables and considered marketing strategies for the campus.

The result was very well received: During the pilot project last year, the "Bodenschätze" bag with a tasty surprise mix that depended on the current crops was distributed 265 times in the TMS. The campaign thus exceeded all expectations.

On Wednesday evening, the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture also praised the continuation of the project highly and gave it a boost.

Minister Julia Klöckner awarded the Gemüsehof Hörz and the Bodenschätze Bag as one of seven prize winners with the federal prize "Too good to throw away." The jury selected the winners from a total of 110 entries in the categories of agriculture and production, trade, gastronomy, society, education, and digitization.

Other prizewinners include the smartphone app "To Good to Go," which can be used in bakeries and restaurants, for example, to protect products from disposal shortly before closing time, and the beer "Frankfurter Knärzje," which is brewed with stale bread.

"The wealth of ideas, the many submissions, but also numerous other initiatives and projects make it clear that citizens are becoming noticeably more aware of the topic. It's time to save food, for example by having leftover food packed in a restaurant," said Klöckner.

Everybody can make a contribution against food waste in their everyday life. With its national strategy against food waste, the German government also wants to make the entire value chain responsible: From farmers, processing companies, wholesalers and retailers to gastronomy and private households, according to the Minister.

 

Bodenschätze project extended

Vanessa Emily-Schoch and Evelyn Reinmuth from the Humboldt reloaded team were present at the award ceremony in Berlin: "We are delighted and would like to take this opportunity to thank the student groups FRESH and Greening Hohenheim, who organized the distribution of the Bodenschätze bag in the TMS, as well as the AStA and the President's Office for their support of this unusual university project.

Thanks to the € 5000 subsidy, nothing stands in the way of continuing the sales campaign. Among other things, the Gemüsehof is investing in the further development of its own website, including an online order form. Students and employees are expected to be able to pre-order the Bodenschätze Bag again in June.

Text: Leonhardmair