The story…

Turning bread into beer to fight food waste

Learn language related to…

Food waste

Need-to-know language

stale bread – bread that has been exposed to air or heat and has become dry and hardened as a result

leftover (adjective) – describes food remaining after most of it has been eaten

niche – appealing to a small and specific section of the population

raising awareness – making more people know about something

Answer this…

How old is the tradition of making beer out of bread?

Transcript 

Stale bread. Every year it is estimated that Austria throws away enough bread to feed over a million people. But the leftover bread at this shop isn't destined for the bin. It's being made into beer - part of efforts to prevent food waste.  

Tobias Judmaier, food activist
In our little shop that we have in Vienna, we have each day a couple of buns left over which, as such is not a problem. But if you look at it throughout the month, you'll realise it accumulates and what else could you do with this leftover bread? So we started getting creative and thought of beer. 

Making beer out of bread is an old tradition which dates back to Ancient Egypt. This is a niche product. It can't compete with the huge breweries. But its producers say it's about raising awareness of the problem of food waste. So every time they crack open a bottle of bread beer, these Austrians know they're taking a small step towards fighting food waste. 

Did you get it?

How old is the tradition of making beer out of bread? 

Making beer out of bread is an old tradition which dates back to Ancient Egypt. 

Did you know?

According to the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization, one third of all food produced for human consumption is lost or wasted before it is eaten.