Loss and waste in food systems

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  Food loss and waste

  Not only does the problem persist, but it is also getting worse. Nature Food’s Collection ‘Loss and waste in food systems’ is a contribution to the debate on drivers, impacts and solutions.

  Editorial23 Aug 2024 Nature Food
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  Principles, drivers and opportunities of a circular bioeconomy

  Natural biomass cycling and avoidance of biomass overharvest are the basis of a sustainable food system. This study proposes five guiding principles for biomass use based on the concepts of ecology and circularity, as well as leverage points for their implementation.

  • Abigail Muscat
  • Evelien M. de Olde
  • Imke J. M. de Boer

  Perspective9 Aug 2021 Nature Food
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  Discarded food and resource depletion

  Food systems are driven by incentives that often lead to food being discarded before entering the market and to the degradation of natural resources. Vegetable production in the water-scarce province of Almería, Spain, illustrates this and highlights the need for policies ensuring ethical and environmental sustainability standards.

  • Jaime Martínez-Valderrama
  • Emilio Guirado
  • Fernando T. Maestre

  Comment11 Nov 2020 Nature Food
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  Chitin and chitosan derived from crustacean waste valorization streams can support food systems and the UN Sustainable Development Goals

  Inedible crustacean waste can be utilized for chitin and chitosan extraction. This Perspective reflects on recent developments in chitin extraction and explores future chitin and chitosan applications within and outside the food system.

  • Hamid Amiri
  • Mortaza Aghbashlo
  • Meisam Tabatabaei

  Perspective26 Sep 2022 Nature Food
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  China’s food loss and waste embodies increasing environmental impacts

  Characterizing and quantifying food loss and waste (FLW) is key to the design of sustainable food systems. Based on field surveys and literature review, this study provides data on FLW in China for several commodities at specific stages of the food supply chain. Associated environmental footprints are also calculated under baseline conditions and for three hypothetical scenarios of FLW reduction, revealing the effectiveness of different intervention levels.

  • Li Xue
  • Xiaojie Liu
  • Gang Liu

  Article15 Jul 2021 Nature Food
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  Policy framing, design and feedback can increase public support for costly food waste regulation

  The reduction of food loss and waste is urgent, yet strict food waste regulations can be costly and unpopular. Drawing on a large set of survey experiments conducted in a high-income country, this study assesses the positive impact that specific policy framing, design and feedback may have on citizens’ level of support to these regulations.

  • Lukas Fesenfeld
  • Lukas Rudolph
  • Thomas Bernauer

  Article10 Feb 2022 Nature Food
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  Global food loss and waste estimates show increasing nutritional and environmental pressures

  A database addresses the magnitude, composition, location and environmental footprint of global food loss and waste, providing a link to global trade, nutritional security and environmental impacts.

  • Alessandro Gatto
  • Maksym Chepeliev

  Article29 Jan 2024 Nature Food
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  Aquatic food loss and waste rate in the United States is half of earlier estimates

  Data on aquatic food loss and waste are limited outside small-scale fisheries, and major gaps exist for aquaculture species that make up half of global production. This study estimates loss and waste in the US aquatic food supply chain from 2014 to 2018, including the top ten species groups that together represent 89% of the country’s aquatic food supply.

  • David C. Love
  • Frank Asche
  • Roni Neff

  ArticleOpen Access13 Dec 2023 Nature Food
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  Rebound effects could offset more than half of avoided food loss and waste

  Efficiency improvements that cause price decreases and consumption increases may offset the benefits of avoided food loss and waste (FLW), hindering progress towards SDG 12. Based on published income-group- and food-type-specific price elasticities of supply and demand, this study quantifies the direct rebound effects from large reductions in FLW of six types of food.

  • Margaret Hegwood
  • Matthew G. Burgess
  • Steven J. Davis

  Article20 Jul 2023 Nature Food
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  Cradle-to-grave emissions from food loss and waste represent half of total greenhouse gas emissions from food systems

  Greenhouse gas emissions due to food loss and waste in supply chain and waste management systems accounted for about half of the global annual greenhouse gas emissions from food systems in 2017. The outcomes of emission intervention strategies depend on temporal, regional and socio-economic conditions.

  • Jingyu Zhu
  • Zhenyi Luo
  • Ke Yin

  Article13 Mar 2023 Nature Food
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  Global food loss and waste embodies unrecognized harms to air quality and biodiversity hotspots

  Most research on the impacts of food loss and waste (FLW) looks at food security, resource use and climate. Based on product-level FLW data and an NH₃ emission inventory, atmospheric chemistry simulations reveal the potential of FLW reductions in mitigating PM_2.5 air pollution and nitrogen deposition.

  • Yixin Guo
  • Haiyue Tan
  • Xuejun Liu

  Article7 Aug 2023 Nature Food
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  Regionalized life-cycle monetization can support the transition to sustainable rural food waste management in China

  Food waste is a global challenge that is strongly linked to climate change, resource consumption and human health. This study proposes a monetization approach based on a set of life-cycle assessment indicators that enables the comparison of food waste recycling technologies. The method was applied to food waste recycling in a Chinese province, revealing trade-offs and the effectiveness of different solutions.

  • Fang Liu
  • Liqing Xin
  • Lei Wang

  Article18 Sep 2023 Nature Food
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  Plant-biomass-based hybrid seed wraps mitigate yield and post-harvest losses among smallholder farmers in sub-Saharan Africa

  Nematode infections of cash crops impact economic well-being and food security in many parts of sub-Saharan Africa. This study reports a nature-based technology developed to protect yam seeds from soil-borne pathogens, increase yield and decrease post-harvest losses among smallholder farmers in Benin.

  • Tahira Pirzada
  • Antoine Affokpon
  • Saad A. Khan

  ArticleOpen Access16 Feb 2023 Nature Food
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  Miniaturized wireless sensor enables real-time monitoring of food spoilage

  Standard tests to determine food spoilage are costly and time consuming. A poly(styrene-co-maleic anhydride)-based sensor offers a low-cost alternative that can be linked to mobile phones for real-time spoilage analysis. The device was tested on chicken and beef samples under various storage conditions.

  • Emin Istif
  • Hadi Mirzajani
  • Levent Beker

  Article18 May 2023 Nature Food
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  Valorization of cocoa pod side streams improves nutritional and sustainability aspects of chocolate

  The conventional cocoa value chain has important environmental, nutritional and socio-economic implications. This study presents a chocolate formulation that combines the cocoa pod endocarp and pulp juice to create a sweetening gel that replaces refined sugar, offering improved nutritional value and reduced environmental impact while also contributing to income diversification for smallholder farmers.

  • Kim Mishra
  • Ashley Green
  • Erich J. Windhab

  ArticleOpen Access21 May 2024 Nature Food