Yesterday, Princess Marie returned to official engagements in Denmark following her move to Paris, France, with Prince Joachim and their two children this summer. She attended an event celebrating the launch of the Food with Respect cookbook as part of her important engagement in the fight against food waste.
Princess Marie took part in the project by writing the foreword and sharing four recipes. In the foreword, Princess Marie says: ‘It makes me sad when good food is thrown out and important resources go to waste. Leftovers are still food and even if a stew or a salad has already been put on the table once, the leftovers can be included in new combinations and become new, good meals. It’s up to us to make them exciting again.’
Prince Henrik and Princess Athena are also in the book and, prior to the official launch, the Danish Royal Court shared a photo from the book showing the Princess and her children cooking on their Instagram account. Princess Marie has repeatedly said how important it was for her to teach her children about food waste and to include them in the cooking of meals.
In a recent interview to promote the book, she said: “I think it is incredibly important that children come into the kitchen and take part in shopping, but also that we talk to them about respect for food. We have always done this, and both children not only want to help, but they are also good at finding solutions for how to use the food and scold me if I get to throw out something we can still eat. We also eat together almost every night, and here we talk about everything from their school day to the world’s challenges, so they are both curious and conscious.”
The cookbook was the idea of Princess Marie and Selina Juul, the founder of the Stop Wasting Food movement in Denmark. Five well-known Danish and French chefs are sharing their recipes in the cookbook which aims to help families reduce food waste at home.
The recipes are creative but easy to make, and they are a great way to cook leftovers instead of throwing them away as explained by Selina Juul: Our cookbook “Food with respect – A family cookbook which reduces food waste” will give Danish families good, easy and hands-on tools to become better at utilizing food, saving money and helping the environment. The book is a great dish of good advice, recipes, tips and suggestions on how a family can become even better at using all the food. Avoiding food waste is about showing more respect for food – and for the whole gigantic process, which provides for food on our plates.”
Currently, families are the biggest food wasters, and according to the publishing house Gyldendal’s press release, an average Danish family wastes food worth of 7,200 DKK – equivalent to 964 Euro or 1,077 USD – each year. Food waste also has a big impact on the environment and climate change.
At the launch event, Princess Marie was joined by Selina Juul and the five chefs to celebrate the release of the book. Princess Marie also made a speech.
Each copy sold of the book will trigger a donation to DanChurchAid, a Danish charity helping people in Africa, of which Princess Marie is Patron since 2011. Princess Marie will also attend the second Annual International Stop Wasting Food dinner, hosted by the Embassy of Sweden in Denmark, this evening to raise more awareness about the fight against food waste in Denmark and abroad.
