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It has been estimated that one-third of global food is lost or wasted, entailing significant environmental, economic, and social costs. The scale and impact of food loss and waste (FLW) has attracted significant interest across sectors, leading to a relatively recent proliferation of publications. This article synthesizes existing knowledge in the literature with a focus on FLW measurement, drivers, and solutions. We apply the widely adopted DPSIR (Driver-Pressure-State-Impact-Response) framework to structure the review. Key takeaways include the following: Existing definitions of FLW are inconsistent and incomplete, significant data gaps remain (by food type, stage of supply chain, and region, especially for developing countries), FLW solutions focus more on proximate causes rather than larger systemic drivers, and effective responses to FLW will require complementary approaches and robust evaluation.

Purpose Stakeholders across the food product supply chain are increasingly interested in understanding the environmental effects of food production. Mushrooms are a unique food crop, grown in the absence of sunlight and in climate controlled environments. Few life cycle assessment (LCA) studies have been conducted previously on mushrooms and none in the USA. This study assesses the cradle-to-gate life cycle environmental impacts of mushroom production in the USA from cultivation to harvest and preparation for bulk packaging. Methods This process-based LCA uses primary data from mushroom producers to define the foreground system. Primary data for operations were collected from compost and mushroom producers in the USA, representing approximately one third of US mushroom production. Secondary data were collected from life cycle inventory databases and other published resources to define background systems and process emissions from the foreground system. The study uses a functional unit of 1 kg mushrooms and applies the Institute of Environmental Sciences (CML) impact analysis method, supplemented with additional impact categories for energy use, freshwater use, and 20 and 100-year global warming potentials (GWPs) with and without carbon-climate feedback. Results and discussion Results show that GWP 100 impacts range from 2.13 to 2.95 kg CO 2 e/kg of mushroom product, slightly lower than previous mushroom LCAs conducted for Australian and Spanish production systems. Electricity and fossil fuels were the most impactful inputs, not just for GWP, but most other impact categories as well, followed by compost materials, compost emissions, and transportation. Transport of peat, a key input to the mushroom production substrate, and compost materials contributed to 60 and 36% of the total transportation impacts, respectively. The co-product generated by the system, spent mushroom substrate (SMS), was handled using the displacement method. SMS generated very small credits to the system, less than 1% in every impact category. Conclusions Recommendations to improve the commercial mushroom production process include reducing electricity and fossil fuel use through on-site renewable energy generation. This recommendation is primarily relevant to mushroom producers in the Eastern region of the USA, where the electricity grid is the most coal and fossil fuel-intensive. Future work should contextualize the results of this study in the context of nutrition, meal, or diet-level assessments to enable informed food choices.

Purpose Plant-based alternatives to dairy milk have grown in popularity over the last decade. Almond milk comprises the largest share of plant-based milk in the US market and, as with so many food products, stakeholders in the supply chain are increasingly interested in understanding the environmental impacts of its production, particularly its carbon footprint and water consumption. This study undertakes a life cycle assessment (LCA) of a California unsweetened almond milk. Methods The scope of this LCA includes the production of almond milk in primary packaging at the factory gate. California produces all US almonds, which are grown under irrigated conditions. Spatially resolved modeling of almond cultivation and primary data collection from one almond milk supply chain were used to develop the LCA model. While the environmental indicators of greatest interest are global warming potential (GWP) and freshwater consumption (FWC), additional impact categories from US EPA's TRACI assessment method are also calculated. Co-products are accounted for using economic allocation, but massbased allocation and displacement are also tested to understand the effect of co-product allocation choices on results. Results and discussion The GWP and FWC of one 48 oz. (1.42 L) bottle of unsweetened almond milk are 0.71 kg CO 2 e and 175 kg of water. A total of 0.39 kg CO 2 e (or 55%) of the GWP is attributable to the almond milk, with the remainder attributable to packaging. Almond cultivation alone is responsible for 95% of the FWC (167 kg H 2 O), because of irrigation water demand. Total primary energy consumption (TPE) is estimated at 14.8 MJ. The 48 oz. (1.42 L) PET bottle containing the almond milk is the single largest contributor to TPE (42%) and GWP (35%). Using recycled PET instead of virgin PET for the bottle considerably reduces all impact indicators except for eutrophication potential. Conclusions For the supply chain studied here, packaging choices provide the most immediate opportunities for reducing impacts related to GWP and TPE, but would not result in a significant reduction in FWC because irrigation water for almond cultivation is the dominant consumer. To provide context for interpretation, average US dairy milk appears to have about 4.5 times the GWP and 1.8 times the FWC of the studied almond milk on a volumetric basis.

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