We would have food waste 'for binge feeding'. We look at the reasons why they are currently not (allowed to) end up there and take a look into the future of the Sautrog.
My compliments. You have decided to dive with us briefly into the abyss of the Sautrog. And possibly think about its return. A topic that may seem unpleasant at first glance, but deep down has great potential for lasting change.
2001 was the fateful year of the sauté trough in Austria. Not so long ago, the sow trough was a fixture in pretty much every large rural family in Austria. The trunks of domestic pigs would gleefully rummage through food scraps and kitchen waste. These pig troughs had an unmistakable olfactory 'aroma'. For the country bumpkins among us, this scent may involuntarily rise to the nose as soon as we see even one photo of a pig.
Of course, it's not the smell of the Sautroge that we miss in our society today; it's more about its function. The role it has played for centuries as a link in our food chain. A link that allowed leftovers to be utilized and a cycle to be closed.
The spectre of pig farming
As mentioned, this cycle was abruptly interrupted in 2001 when a farm fed food waste under questionable hygienic conditions, which fatally led to an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease.
It has been scientifically proven that the feeding of food scraps is harmless to the health of pigs if they are specially thermally processed. This also reliably prevents the transmission of the bugbears of every pig farmer - foot-and-mouth disease and African swine fever. So technically, a lot could be done here.
Nevertheless, in the aftermath of the outbreak, the EU reflexively decided to remove 'home cooking' from the diet of pigs by regulation . Since then, only a portion of food waste - bread and cereal products - has been fed to farm animals in Europe (5 million tons per year). If the legal regulations were less strict, almost three times as much would be possible (14 million tons per year).
The aftermath of the feed ban also suggests that the baby may have been thrown out with the bathwater. Pig farming became more expensive as a result. Keeping pigs on a small scale became even less popular. Since 1995, an average of 4 out of 5 pig farmers in Austria have thrown in the towel. The remaining farms keep all the more animals.
The import of genetically modified soy has increased massively in the last 20 years. Since then, the fact that pigs are now "only" fattened with soy and grain means that they are competing even more strongly with us humans for food.
What would be possible if...?
Other countries have long recognized that recycling food waste as feed for omnivorous animals (pigs, chickens) makes ecological and financial sense and is also harmless to health. In Japan, a large proportion of food waste is thermally processed and fed. For example, 52% of leftovers from the Japanese food industry are recycled.
What would be possible if we allowed thought outside the current legal framework? A study by the University of Cambridge concludes that the relaxation of the EU regulation and the associated feeding of food waste to pigs could set a major lever in motion: the fact that significantly less feed would have to be grown for pigs could free up 20,000 km² of arable land in Europe alone for other, more sustainable uses.
Porky dreams of the future
Voices calling for a metaphorical 'resurrection of the pig trough' are growing louder. In England, the movement "The pig idea" has been founded for this purpose, which - primarily for ecological reasons - is campaigning for a softening of the legal situation. The principle is simple: incentives must be created for a 'hierarchy of food use'. First and foremost, food waste must be avoided. Secondly, leftovers should be shared with other people. Thirdly, leftovers that people can no longer eat should be fed back to animals. And the last little leftover? Is composted.
This would give the phrase "to binge feed" a completely new meaning in the future: it would no longer mean "far too much" (the production of huge amounts of food waste), but the sensible use of the unavoidable leftovers in the truest sense of the word: to binge feed.
About the author
Dr. Sybille Chiari is part of the editorial team of "Nachhaltigkeit. Neu denken" and has been working on the topics of sustainability and climate communication for many years - both as a researcher and writer. She is part of the Scientists for Future movement and chairwoman of the Bele Co-Housing association (community housing project with organic, regenerative agriculture www.belehof.at).
