scholarly journals Quantities and Quantification Methodologies of Food Waste in Swedish Hospitals

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (8) ◽  
pp. 3116 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mattias Eriksson ◽  
Christopher Malefors ◽  
Pauline Bergström ◽  
Emelie Eriksson ◽  
Christine Persson Osowski
Keyword(s):  
Supply Chain ◽  
Food Waste ◽  
Food Supply ◽  
Food System ◽  
Food Supply Chain ◽  
Sustainable Food ◽  
Plate Waste ◽  
Overall Performance ◽  
Regional Authorities ◽  
Sustainable Food System

To move towards a sustainable food system, we cannot continue to waste substantial amounts of the food produced. This is especially true for later stages in the food supply chain, where most sub-processes consume resources in vain when food is wasted. Hospitals are located at the end of the food supply chain and the sector has high levels of food waste. This study investigated food waste quantification practices in Swedish hospitals, examined whether a questionnaire is an appropriate methodology for such mapping, and compiled data for the sector in order to determine the amount of food waste and its composition. A questionnaire was sent to all 21 regional authorities, formerly known as county councils, responsible for hospitals in Sweden. The questionnaire responses were supplemented with food waste records from three regions that organize the catering in a total of 20 hospitals. The results showed that it is common practice in most hospitals to quantify food waste, with quantification focusing on lunch and dinner in relation to the number of guests served. It was also clear that waste quantification practices have been established for years, and in the majority of the hospitals studied. The data revealed that, in comparison with other sectors, food waste was still high, 111 g guest−1 meal−1, consisting of 42% plate waste, 36% serving waste, and 22% kitchen waste. However, there was great variation between hospitals, which, in combination with well-established, standardized waste quantification routines, meaning that this sector has strong potential to spread best practices and improve overall performance in reducing food waste generation.

Sustainable Food Logistics Systems

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhaohui Wu ◽  
Madeleine Elinor Pullman
Keyword(s):  
Supply Chain ◽  
Food Supply ◽  
Food Systems ◽  
Food System ◽  
New Technology ◽  
Cold Chain ◽  
Community Supported Agriculture ◽  
Food Supply Chain ◽  
Sustainable Food ◽  
Chain Management

Food supply chain management is becoming a critical management and public policy agenda. Climate change, growing demand, and shifting patterns of food production, delivery, and consumption have elicited a series of new challenges, such as food security, safety, and system resiliency. This chapter first introduces the typical players in a food supply chain and examines the global food system characterized by consolidation and industrialization. It then discusses some critical topics of the sustainable food supply chain that aim to address these challenges. These topics include traceability, transparency, certification and standards, and alternatives to industrialized food systems, including cooperatives, community-supported agriculture, and roles of small and medium-sized growers in regenerative agriculture. The chapter ends with a discussion of several important emerging logistics management topics, including last-mile delivery, new technology, and cold chain management.

scholarly journals Food Losses and Waste: A Needed Assessment for Future Policies

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (21) ◽  
pp. 11586
Author(s):  
Pilar Campoy-Muñoz ◽  
Manuel Alejandro Cardenete ◽  
María del Carmen Delgado ◽  
Ferran Sancho
Keyword(s):  
Supply Chain ◽  
Economic Impact ◽  
Food Supply ◽  
Food System ◽  
Human Consumption ◽  
Food Supply Chain ◽  
Sustainable Food ◽  
Two Factors ◽  
Food Losses ◽  
The Impact

About one third of food produced for human consumption is lost or wasted. For this reason, food losses and waste has become a key priority within worldwide policy circles. This is a major global issue that not only threatens the viability of a sustainable food system but also generates negative externalities in environmental terms. The avoidance of this forbidding wastage would have a positive economic impact on national economies in terms of resource savings. In this paper we look beyond this somewhat traditional resource savings angle and we shift the focus to explore the distributional consequences of food losses and waste reduction using a resource constrained modeling perspective. The impact due to the behavioral shift of each household is therefore explained by two factors. One is the amount of resources saved when the behavioral shift takes place, whereas the other one has to do with the position of households in the food supply chain. By considering the whole supply chain, instead of the common approach based only in reducing waste by consumers, we enrich the empirical knowledge of this issue and improve the quantification of its economic impact. We examine data for three EU countries that present different economic structures (Germany, Spain and Poland) so as to have a broader and more robust viewpoint of the potential results. We find that distributional effects are different for consumers and producers and also across countries. Our results could be useful for policymakers since they indicate that policies should not be driven merely by the size waste but rather on its position within the food supply chain.

scholarly journals Consumers in a Sustainable Food Supply Chain (COSUS): Understanding Consumer Behavior to Encourage Food Waste Reduction

Foods ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 6 (12) ◽  
pp. 104 ◽  
Author(s):  
Harald Rohm ◽  
Marije Oostindjer ◽  
Jessica Aschemann-Witzel ◽  
Claudia Symmank ◽  
Valérie L. Almli ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Supply Chain ◽  
Consumer Behavior ◽  
Food Waste ◽  
Food Supply ◽  
Waste Reduction ◽  
Food Supply Chain ◽  
Sustainable Food

scholarly journals Opportunities, challenges and trade-offs with decreasing avoidable food waste in the UK

2021 ◽  
pp. 0734242X2098342
Author(s):  
Shivalee Patel ◽  
Manoj Dora ◽  
John N Hahladakis ◽  
Eleni Iacovidou
Keyword(s):  
Supply Chain ◽  
Food Waste ◽  
Food Supply ◽  
Food System ◽  
Social Benefit ◽  
Waste Generation ◽  
Food Supply Chain ◽  
Global Literature ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
The Uk

Around 6 million tonnes of edible food are being wasted (post-farm gate) in the UK each year. This fraction of edible wasted food is known as avoidable food waste. In a circular economy food is a valuable resource that must be captured at all stages of the food supply chain and, where possible, redistributed for consumption. This can prevent avoidable food waste generation, and dissipation of food’s multidimensional value that spans environmental, economic, social, technical and political/organisational impacts. While the importance and benefits of surplus food redistribution have been well documented in the global literature, there are still barriers that prevent perfectly edible food from being wasted. This study looks at the main stages of the food supply chain, and amasses the opportunities, challenges and trade-offs associated with surplus food redistribution to the UK economy. It highlights points in the food system where interventions can be made, to improve food’s circularity and sustainability potential. Stakeholder interrelations, regulatory and socio-economic aspects are discussed in relation to their influence on decreasing avoidable food waste. The main output from this work is a diagrammatic depiction of where challenges and trade-offs occur along the food supply chain, and how policy and socio-economic reforms are needed to maximise avoidable food waste prevention, and the surplus avoidable food redistribution in the food supply chain for social benefit.

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