The results of the Food Aid Hub network, actions in schools, and the city’s role in the international debate on food waste prevention

In 2025, the Food Aid Hub network of the Municipality of Milan recovered 1,057 tonnes of surplus food, redistributing over two million meals, equivalent to approximately 18,000 families in vulnerable conditions, through eight hubs active across the city.

“We are celebrating the National Day for Food Waste Prevention with over 32% more surplus recovered compared to 2024, while in 2023 we had reached 615 tonnes,” explained Anna Scavuzzo, Deputy Mayor with responsibility for Food Policy. “In 2025, the operations of the city’s hub network continued and consolidated, in a steadily growing effort of which we are proud. This good practice has been exported internationally and has become a model for many other countries, fostering ongoing dialogue on food policies, sustainable transformation of urban food systems, and waste prevention through the Milan Urban Food Policy Pact, which involves hundreds of cities across all continents. With the Food Aid Hubs, we are not only dealing with food but also with people and families, in a structured and valuable effort that has a significant and tangible impact on food poverty.”

The results are the product of a structured and collaborative partnership, involving the Municipality of Milan, several Third Sector organisations as managers, and numerous institutional, scientific, and private partners, including Fondazione Cariplo, Fondazione Snam, and Politecnico di Milano.
Politecnico di Milano contributes to the initiative through the Food Sustainability Lab of the POLIMI School of Management as the scientific lead for the project, overseeing the monitoring and analysis of the impacts of the Hub network’s activities in collaboration with Shair.Tech with its digital platform BringTheFood, and through the POLIMI Desis Lab of the Design Department, involved in the management of the Loreto Food Aid Hub. The network has been further strengthened through collaboration with The Earthshot Prize.

In 2025, engagement in schools was also reinforced in collaboration with Milano Ristorazione, through initiatives in prevention, recovery, and food education. The project “Sacchetto Salvamerenda – Io non spreco” enabled the distribution of over 19,300 snack bags across 86 schools during the first four months of the 2025/26 school year, combining food recovery with educational activities for students and teachers.

Also in 2025, thanks to collaboration with Banco Alimentare della Lombardia – Siticibo, over 17 tonnes of bread and approximately 40 tonnes of fruit were recovered from school canteens. Alongside consolidated initiatives, the European project CULTIVATE (Horizon Europe) launched the CARE pilot, which used cargo bikes to recover a total of over 3,500 kg of bread and fruit between schools and city hubs.

Finally, Food waste prevention is also central to the international debate promoted by the Milan Urban Food Policy Pact. During the MUFPP Global Forum, held in Milan in October 2025, the Milan Pact Awards were presented to the most innovative cities in the Food Waste category. In the early months of 2026, a collaboration with the FAO was also launched, focusing on training and capacity-building activities for cities in the Asia-Pacific and South America regions, aiming to spread good practices in the recovery of food surplus.

For more detail: https://www.comune.milano.it/w/food-policy.-nel-2025-recuperate-1.057-tonnellate-di-eccedenze

The guidelines for the planning and development of Food Aid Hubs, realized by POLIMI School of Management, in collaboration with Comune di Milano Food Policy and with the support of Fondazione SNAM, are available at this page: https://www.comune.milano.it/it/amministrazione/food-policy/contrasto-allo-spreco-e-aiuto-alimentare#linee-guida-per-la-pianificazione-e-lo-sviluppo-di-hub-di-quartiere-contro-lo-spreco-alimentare