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In France, Frédéric Fights Food Waste

Frédéric lives in the Paris region with his family, where he works as Senior Manager, R&D Strategy & Prospective Labs at TotalEnergies. He decided to take part in the Action! program, which allows employees to devote up to three days of their working time per year to citizenship initiatives. So, he volunteered with Le Chaînon Manquant to help combat food waste by repurposing unsold food products.

Each year, France produces 10 million tons of food waste, 1.2 million tons of which is still edible. At the same time, 8 million people are suffering from food insecurity. Le Chaînon Manquant collects unused food from restaurants, takeout stores and other food outlets and redistributes it to a network of partners in the social economy. Thanks to the joint efforts of these nonprofits, businesses and volunteers, 200,000 meals are served every year to those most in need.

Like Frédéric, almost 7,500 TotalEnergies employees in 78 countries have volunteered for a citizenship initiative under the Action! program since late 2018.

Published on 23/07/2021

1 min reading time

TotalEnergies Employees Take Action!

Frédéric:
I’m Frédéric. I’m 55, married, with three children.
I live near Paris.
We’re a Franco-British family.

I like to get up in the morning, have breakfast with my family, play table-tennis with the boys, cycling, DIY.

I work in research and my job is to find emerging technologies.
Through my company’s community volunteering program, I can volunteer for a nonprofit during my work time.

I chose Le Chaînon Manquant, which collects unsold produce from restaurants, canteens and shops, and then distributes it to people in need.

In the car

Frédéric:
So where are we going?

Maëla – « Le Chaînon Manquant» organization:
Now we’re going to the first pick-up.

Frédéric:
It’s in the 17^th, rue de Courcelles…

Frédéric – On the phone:
Yes, hi, it’s Frédéric from Le Chaînon Manquant. I’m with Maëla. Have you got anything else to give us?

Frédéric:
As a volunteer for this charity, I help distribute the food, so I do pick-ups and deliveries.

Maëla:
Every year, we distribute almost 200,000 meals. When you think that 10 million tons of food, just in France, is thrown away or lost every year and that we’ve also got almost 8 million people with food insecurity, it’s not right.

General store – Paris, 17^th arrondissement.

Maëla:
Can you do it, Frédéric?

Frédéric:
Sure, yes.

Maëla:
Check the dates are still good.

Frédéric:
…pork, chicken…

Frédéric:
At first I was a bit apprehensive, but as I did more initiatives, I started finding it really rewarding.

« La Promesse de l’Aube » emergency housing center – Paris, 16^th arrondissement

Frédéric:
People are waiting for us. And they really need this. I feel I’m helping. And that’s great, making a different kind of contribution.

In the car.

Maëla:
We’re delivering to the food center, le Secours Populaire.

Secours Populaire – Paris, 18^th arrondissement.

Maëla:
Want me to show you?

Frédéric:
There’s a lot to deliver, this is the starting gun. They’ve received other deliveries and all the volunteers are sorting it out.

Frédéric:
Doing this really gives you faith in people; you realize that these problems are not so desperate. Because there are solutions. You just need to find the energy and the people who are happy to do it.
It’s really heart-warming to see all this activity!

Frédéric manages R&D incubation at TotalEnergies.

Through the Action! Program, he donates 3 working days a year to local initiatives.

That’s TotalEnergies Too.

In France, Frédéric Fights Food Waste

Read the transcript