Closing the loop on food waste: Causes, concerns and rescue for consumption
1. Introduction
According to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), food waste means any edible substance that is wasted or degraded along the food supply chain (FSC) (FAO, 1981). Food waste mainly occurs at the end of the FSC during distribution, sale and final consumption, but it also includes all types of food losses which take place during the agricultural production, post-harvest and processing stages. The main categories of food commodities which are wasted globally include fruits and vegetables, milk and milk products, cereals, meat and fish (FAO and SIK, 2011). Figure 1 illustrates the percentage of food losses and food waste in each group …show more content…
There are also prominent differences between developed and developing countries. In developing countries losses are due to reasons like inefficient and labor-intensive agricultural practices, limited financial and technical resources, primitive harvesting methods, insufficient transportation, poor infrastructure, inappropriate storage facilities, use of pesticides/herbicides and the lack of logistical management (Ventour, 2008). In developed countries there is much lower level of loss at this stage due to the presence of better infrastructure, greater technology, financial resources and more favorable environmental conditions. However, losses do occur when sometimes supply is greater than demands or when qualitative standards set by distributors and aesthetic requirements of customers are not satisfied (Kantor et al., …show more content…
The main categories of social mechanisms are government agencies, non-profit organizations, private organizations, awareness campaigns, cooperatives in the agricultural sector and initiatives by major retailers (Bernstad and Jansen, 2011). Local government and municipal agencies like WRAP in UK, take initiatives to promote the reduction, recycling and reuse of wasted food. Non-profit organizations like ‘FareShare’ in UK and Food Bank in Italy provide food aid by collecting food donations from restaurants, industries and food services and redistributing edible food to facilities that are dedicated to assist poor people (Lowe, 2007). Some private organizations like ‘FoodCycle’ salvage and prepare healthy food in community kitchens and then serve it in various cafeterias (Chhabra, 2010). ‘Love Food Hate Waste’ and ‘This is Rubbish’ are two food waste awareness campaigns generated by WRAP in UK, who target and educate adolescents and children at schools about food waste. Private cooperatives in agricultural sector and major retailers also take initiatives through collection and redistribution of unsold but edible food products by selling at discounted prices. In addition to these, restaurants and food services also help by recovering food and wine leftovers generated by customers (Betts and Burnett,
1. Introduction
According to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), food waste means any edible substance that is wasted or degraded along the food supply chain (FSC) (FAO, 1981). Food waste mainly occurs at the end of the FSC during distribution, sale and final consumption, but it also includes all types of food losses which take place during the agricultural production, post-harvest and processing stages. The main categories of food commodities which are wasted globally include fruits and vegetables, milk and milk products, cereals, meat and fish (FAO and SIK, 2011). Figure 1 illustrates the percentage of food losses and food waste in each group …show more content…
There are also prominent differences between developed and developing countries. In developing countries losses are due to reasons like inefficient and labor-intensive agricultural practices, limited financial and technical resources, primitive harvesting methods, insufficient transportation, poor infrastructure, inappropriate storage facilities, use of pesticides/herbicides and the lack of logistical management (Ventour, 2008). In developed countries there is much lower level of loss at this stage due to the presence of better infrastructure, greater technology, financial resources and more favorable environmental conditions. However, losses do occur when sometimes supply is greater than demands or when qualitative standards set by distributors and aesthetic requirements of customers are not satisfied (Kantor et al., …show more content…
The main categories of social mechanisms are government agencies, non-profit organizations, private organizations, awareness campaigns, cooperatives in the agricultural sector and initiatives by major retailers (Bernstad and Jansen, 2011). Local government and municipal agencies like WRAP in UK, take initiatives to promote the reduction, recycling and reuse of wasted food. Non-profit organizations like ‘FareShare’ in UK and Food Bank in Italy provide food aid by collecting food donations from restaurants, industries and food services and redistributing edible food to facilities that are dedicated to assist poor people (Lowe, 2007). Some private organizations like ‘FoodCycle’ salvage and prepare healthy food in community kitchens and then serve it in various cafeterias (Chhabra, 2010). ‘Love Food Hate Waste’ and ‘This is Rubbish’ are two food waste awareness campaigns generated by WRAP in UK, who target and educate adolescents and children at schools about food waste. Private cooperatives in agricultural sector and major retailers also take initiatives through collection and redistribution of unsold but edible food products by selling at discounted prices. In addition to these, restaurants and food services also help by recovering food and wine leftovers generated by customers (Betts and Burnett,