However, it was in 2011 that he embarked on one of the most rewarding adventures of his life – rescuing the leftover food from Lisbon’s leading restaurants and distributing them via bike to those in need.
It's time to work for others!
During the financial crisis (2009/2010), Halder was forced to rethink his career and reinvent himself. At the age of 59, Halder concluded that all he had achieved professionally was for himself, he had not helped others and it was time to change that.
Re-food was born at a dinner party with his daughters. During their meal Halder realised that the leftover food need not be wasted and that an alternative use needed to be established.
Halder recalls,
"When I said the word "alternative" I had a flash of light and I wrote the draft for the Re-food movement right there and then. It is an alternative, a solution to so much good food going into the garbage every day."
With everyone's help, it is possible to change the world!
In the first month of Re-food, Halder collected and delivered 1,000 meals to 40 people on his bike. However, by the second month, there were 30 volunteers and by the end of the first year Re-food had 70 volunteers! As Halder says, “we grew because of the goodwill of the people”.
The Re-food Movement has spread throughout Portugal! Currently, there are 60 Portuguese communities involved in the scheme with twenty operation centres based in Lisbon.
Halder explains the growth of the Re-food Movement, “It is a testimony of the people's goodwill in their communities, who realise that they can change the world with a little effort from each single one of them".
Not only has the Re-food Movement spread throughout Portugal, it has already been adopted in Spain, Italy, America and, most recently, Brazil. The growth of the movement shows that by everyone contributing a small amount of time, collectively we can make a huge difference.
The European Context
In the EU, 33 million people cannot afford a quality meal every second day and food assistance is essential for part of the population in many European Member States. The challenge of food insecurity and affordability risks growing during an economic downturn so it is essential to take action to change consumption patterns and curb food waste. The Re-food programme is an important step in the Commission’s commitment to halving per capita food waste at retail and consumer levels by 2030 as set out in the recently published Farm to Fork strategy.
Choose to evolve
The founding of Re-food aligns with Lisbon’s motto as European Green Capital 2020, "Choose to evolve". Halder chose to evolve. He gave up his career to collect leftover food from restaurants and deliver it to those in need.
Halder states, “There are an immense amount of things we can do, within our community, and each one of us has the power”.
“Each citizen has immense power and can apply this power to change the world, I assure you"