International. To celebrate World Refrigeration Day on June 26, the United Nations Environmental Programme Ozone Action, Chefs4thePlanet and the Global Food Cold Chain Council are partnering to explain the essential role of refrigeration in protecting human and planetary health.
The Cooling Keeps Food Fresh campaign will describe why cooling is necessary for food safety and how it supports nutritious diets that maintain our health, help reduce food loss and waste, and protect the environment.
Leading chefs from around the world have joined the campaign. They will describe how cooling is necessary for your locally inspired cuisine. The chef's recipes will be accompanied by tips that will educate consumers on refrigeration options they can make at home to save money, prolong the shelf life of products, and understand how food waste and loss contribute to climate change.
Bacteria exist everywhere in nature. They are in the soil, the air, the water, and in the food we eat. At favorable temperatures, they grow rapidly and increase in number to the point where some types of bacteria found in food can cause illness. Bacteria grow most rapidly in the temperature range between 4.4 and 60 °C (40 and 140 °F), the "Danger Zone", and some double in as little as 20 minutes. But the cooling provided by refrigerators in our homes and restaurants slows bacterial growth, so it keeps food safe after it's brought home from the market or stored after preparation.
However, the contributions of refrigeration to our health and the environment go much further. Freezing allows fruits and vegetables to be harvested at their peak of maturity, often frozen in a matter of hours, preserving nutrients and flavor. And cooling reduces one of the biggest contributors to climate change, the emission of greenhouse gases from food that is lost due to spoilage and waste. Reducing food loss would feed more undernourished people and promote climate protection. In addition, the wise selection and operation of cooling technology contributes significantly to the protection of the ozone layer and the fight against climate change.
Cooling Matters
"Cooling matters. And maintaining food safety is an example of that," said Steve Gill, founder of World Refrigeration Day, echoing the theme of World Refrigeration Day 2022, Cooling Matters. "Refrigeration is at the very heart of modern life. And the importance of cooling for the global food chain and sustaining human life on our planet cannot be underestimated."
Leading chefs join the campaign
The focus of the campaign is the support of world-renowned chefs who belong to Chefs4thePlanet. Anne Le More and Sebastien Ripari are the co-founders of the organization.
In the face of the triple emergency of climate change, pandemics and social inequalities, Chefs4thePlanet is an international community of chefs from around the world concerned about the impact of food on our planet and our health. "At a time when every day we increasingly exceed our planetary limits and agriculture produces around a quarter of global greenhouse gas emissions, feeding ten billion people by 2050 requires the systemic transformation of our food system. Chefs as role models and influencers have a key role to play," said Anne Le More.
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