Freshmen from CATÓLICA-LISBON return to Golegã for the potato harvest

More than 200 freshmen of CATÓLICA-LISBON participated, on September 2, in the 12th edition of the Solidarity Day. This is already a tradition of the school, which thus welcomes the new students in a solidarity activity that consists of "rolling up their sleeves" for a day outdoors in the agricultural fields of Golegã, with the aim of combating the waste of potatoes that were left behind in the first harvests.

This initiative to Fight Food Waste, already a tradition in CATÓLICA-LISBON's Welcome Week, is designed to contribute to the integration of new students, fostering from day one the spirit of solidarity inherent to the values of CATÓLICA-LISBON.

During one morning, freshmen starting their degrees in Economics and Management and the international degrees in Business Administration and Economics & Finance, including international students, are challenged to participate in the solidarity action "Restolho", which consists in collecting potatoes that are left in the fields after the first harvests, due to their inadequate calibre. Since 2015, more than 20 tonnes of potatoes have been collected as part of Restolho, which were subsequently delivered to charities.

The "Restolho" initiative is developed in collaboration with AGROMAIS, an Agricultural Cooperative that represents a vast number of producers in the North Tagus Valley region, and that has chosen to combat food waste as one of the axes of its Social Responsibility policy, with AGROTEJO, the Federation of Food Banks Against Hunger and ENTRAJUDA.

This CATÓLICA-LISBON initiative fits in with the national and international trend of providing young people with the opportunity to participate in social responsibility actions that have an impact on their communities and that simultaneously contribute to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals established by the United Nations by 2030.

According to data from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, every year a third of food production in the world is thrown away. It is up to all of us to help to counteract this reality, with small daily gestures that can make a difference, contributing to a more sustainable agriculture and to a world with less food waste and, consequently, less hunger.