Search Results (5)

Food waste is a chronic and ongoing environmental, economic, and social problem in the European Union. The study will examine trends in food waste from 2021 to 2023, sectoral effects, regional heterogeneity, and socio-economic determinants of waste intensity. Interlinking longitudinal data from Statista and Eurostat, statistical modeling, and cluster analysis are employed by the study to uncover trends in food waste across member states in the EU. The research shows that domestic food wastage remains the leading one, accounting for 50–60% of the total food wastage in the EU. Inefficiencies in manufacturing and retail are identified as important drivers of wastage generation in high-waste nations such as Cyprus and Denmark because inefficiencies in the processes result in increased wastage generation. Spain and Croatia have continued to record low food wastage per capita owing to good wastage management policies and consumer practices. Regression analysis identifies domestic food wastage, manufacturing waste, and retail wastage as the main drivers of total per capita food wastage, with per capita GDP (Gross Domestic Product) and carbon footprint playing weak roles. Cluster analysis places EU countries into three groups: low-waste countries with highly structured food systems, moderately-waste countries where food wastage at domestic levels prevails, and high-waste countries where there is inefficiency at food production, processing, and consumption levels. These findings necessitate specific interventions. Policy needs to address food waste minimization at the household level via consumer awareness and behavior change initiatives and remove inefficiencies in the manufacturing and retail value chains through the simplification of inventory management, redistribution chains, and incentive regulation. Regional, rather than one-size-fits-all, EU-wide policy is required in order to achieve significant progress. Full article

Archeological evidence shows that dairy farming dates to the early Neolithic era in Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and Africa. Over time, it has evolved from domestication to intensive dairy farms with large, high-tech processing units. Dairy farming has contributed to economic growth, food production, employment, and processing industries. Nonetheless, it has been identified as a major contributor to climate change. This study explores the literature on dairy farming and sustainable development goals (SDGs) to identify current scholarly developments since the formulation and adoption of the SDGs in 2015 and themes for future research. This paper argues that sustainability shortfalls in dairy farming are primarily driven by human processes associated with commercialization and industrialization rather than the animals themselves, although biological emissions remain an inherent factor. Data were analyzed using R package, Excel, NVIVO, and VoS Viewer. A review of the literature showed that dairy farming and its contribution to sustainability has gained more scientific interest since 2015. Moreover, livestock management, feed production and management, stakeholder management, logistics and supply chain management, and waste management are the sources of environmental adversities associated with dairy farming. Notably, these are human processes developed from the commercialization of dairy farming and involve multiple stakeholders across the supply chain. While solutions are embedded within these processes, innovation emerges as a key driver of sustainability and a source of opportunities to strengthen sustainability in the dairy farming sector and achieve SDGs. Sustainability strategies, such as sustainable intensification, multifunctional agriculture, and agro-ecology should be implemented to improve sustainability in the dairy sector. Full article

Globally, nearly one third of food produced for human consumption is lost or wasted. This equals a total of 1.3. billion tonnes per year, which is a large, unnecessary burden for the environment and the economy. Research and development have delivered a wealth of resources for understanding food waste, yet little is known about where food wasting occurs in the home. The study begins with a literature review of articles that deal with food waste and consumer behaviour, reflecting on their definition of ‘waste’, approach, findings and recommendations. Having noticed a lack of convergence in the literature, and an absence of research into digital technologies for the study of food waste, the potential for incorporating novel technology probe methodologies is explored. Building on the proliferation of internet of things devices, the ‘smart bin’ is introduced as an effective intervention for making visible routine household food wasting practices. These data were then triangulated with user interviews, leading to an enriched qualitative discussion and revealing drivers and mitigators of waste. This paper concludes with some reflections on the smart bin as a domestic product and how it might synthesise previous understandings of consumer behaviour, leading to better informed food waste policies and initiatives. Full article

About one third of all food produced for human consumption is wasted. Along with a lively debate on food loss and waste definition and quantification, growing attention is dedicated to the faceted dimensions of consumers’ food waste. Drivers, effects, and mitigating factors have been mainly studied in isolation, with limited attention paid to their interrelationships. This study aims to contribute to a better understanding of the underlying relationship between the causes of food waste and consumers’ perception of their role and of their concern on food waste effects and mitigating factors. The article draws on a survey submitted to 938 respondents while shopping at a supermarket in Italy in 2015. Data were processed by principal components to identify latent dimensions of consumer behavior, and a cluster analysis was performed to identify homogenous groups of consumers. Results emphasize the complexity of the relationship between consumers and food resources. They suggest that while consumers are aware about food waste as a global issue, they often fail to identify the individual contribution they might provide for its prevention and reduction. The article also detects three groups of consumers with different approaches to food waste management and a specific perception of the food waste phenomenon. Full article

Abstract: Using a multi-disciplinary approach, this study quantifies horticultural postharvest losses of two medium-sized (annual pack volume 4500 t) commercial, domestic, tomato supply chains. Quantification of loss was based on weight or volume, consistent with direct measurement methods of the Food Loss and Waste Accounting and Reporting Standard 2016 and qualitative techniques were used to identify the drivers of the loss and contextualise the findings. Postharvest loss was found to be between 40.3% (55.34 t) and 55.9% (29.61 t) of the total harvestable product. It was determined that between 68.6% and 86.7% of undamaged, edible, harvested tomatoes were rejected as outgrades and consequently discarded due to product specifications. Between 71.2% and 84.1% of produced tomatoes were left in the field and not harvested. This study highlights significant factors contributing to high levels of food loss and waste. Edible products are being removed from the commercial food supply chain, rejected as outgrades deemed cosmetically defective due to market-based decisions. With only 44.1% and 59.7% of the harvestable crop reaching the consumers of the two supply chains, respectively, it is perhaps more appropriate to describe a food “waste” chain as opposed to a food “supply” chain. Full article