Worldwide, almost one-third of all food produced is wasted or left to spoil. This waste has a tremendous impact on the environment because of the emission of various gases, and the consumption of water and other resources. According to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), if it were a country, food waste would be the world's third largest producer of greenhouse gases, after China and the United States. 

Aware of the  importance of discussing this issue, the Museum of Tomorrow has been working on a series of food-related themes in 2017 and throughout 2018. With funding from the Newton Fund Institutional Skills, a project of the British Council, the Museum team immersed itself in this issue to understand how  restaurants and community leaders in the Rio de Janeiro Port Region could find ways to prevent food waste. 

The museum created the project "Food for Tomorrow", providing a platform for restaurant owners and cooks to learn techniques for reducing food waste and offer their customers healthier recipes. A practical workshop in partnership with the Fazenda Culinária restaurant, a partner of the project, completed the workshop cycle. 

The exchange of experiences was so productive that the participants created an informal network to prevent food waste. Using social networks, they communicate to give away "leftovers" that could be used as ingredients in other places. The experience also resulted in a free cookbook, which is available online here.

The Newton Fund project also supported a knowledge exchange between professionals from the Museum of Tomorrow and various UK institutions, such as the Science Museum. The exchange enabled the team of the Museum of Tomorrow to develop a large temporary exhibition on food, which will be  inaugurated soon.