Dieter & Isolde Bornemann

Isolde & Dieter Bornemann

“Throwing away bread is a sin. We grew 
up with that. Yet each of us throws a slice 
of bread in the bin every day, on average. 
Without giving it much thought, we waste 
valuable food. We want to make this visible 
with this project.“

Dieter & Isolde Bornemann

We throw away what we don’t need – clothes, technology and even food. 40 per cent of all food produced worldwide is not consumed but wasted. The biggest wasters are not supermarkets, industry or even agriculture – they are us, the consumers in our own four walls. We are responsible for more than half of the mountain of food waste. Statistically, each and every one of us throws away around 75 kilograms of edible food every year. This is a huge waste of resources and money. And it is a burden on the environment: If global food waste were a country by country measure, it would be the third largest emitter of greenhouse gases.

Photographer and TV journalist Dieter Bornemann designed this exhibition together with his wife, author and food blogger Isolde Bornemann. It shows the waste of food in private households in Austria and impressively illustrates how much food we throw away every day. It shows how to avoid it and how to make good use of food. Facts and solutions for reducing the “culinary waste mountain” encourage reflection.

In one experiment, eleven families kept track of their food waste over a four-week period. This food was then purchased and photographed with the family. And each family provides an insight into their eating habits – with an unannounced look into their refrigerator.

The book Aufgegessen! by Dieter Bornemann and the author and food blogger ‘Küchenfreundin Isi’ Isolde Bornemann, is being published by Edition Lammerhuber to accompany the festival. It aims to raise awareness of the major issue of waste.