“We waste 33 percent of the world’s food production. This is insane!”, exclaims Massimo Bottura during his presentation at this year’s UNESCO World Forum on the future of food. Bottura’s 3 Michelin star restaurant Osteria Francescana in Modena – in the Emilia-Romagna region – has been named the World’s Best Restaurant not once, but twice. In addition, he was named one of Time Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People of 2019, in large part for his work fighting food waste.

Through the non-profit organization Food for Soul that he founded in 2016 with his wife Lara Gilmore – he has organized Refettorio and Social Tables around the world to battle food waste through social inclusion. The word Refettorio, “refectory,” comes from the Latin “to re-make” or “restore” and is traditionally a word referring to rooms for communal meals in educational or religious organizations. The goal of the Refettorio and Social Tables is to transform neglected spaces into zero-waste communal kitchens to feed people in need.