Assessing U.S. food wastage and opportunities for reduction

Dou, Zhengxia; Ferguson, James D.; Galligan, D.T.; Kelly, Alan M.; Finn, Steven M.; Giegengack, Robert

doi:10.1016/j.gfs.2016.02.001

Cited by 94 publications

(61 citation statements)

References 10 publications

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“…In the U.S. and other developed countries, most of the attention on food loss and waste has focused on the processing, retail, and consumer levels rather than on the farm (Alexander et al, 2017;Buzby, Wells, & Hyman, 2014;Dou et al, 2016;van der Werf & Gilliland, 2017;Xue et al, 2017). Yet numerous studies indicate that significant quantities of food are discarded or diverted at the farm level, particularly in the arena of fresh produce (WRAP, 2011;Gunders, 2012;Brautigam et al, 2014 Nennich, 2016;Alexander et al 2017;WRAP, 2017).…”

Section: Farms and Food Waste: Inserting Growers' Views Into The Convmentioning

confidence: 99%

Does on-farm food loss prevent waste? Insights from California produce growers

Gillman

Campbell

Spang

2019

Resources, Conservation and Recycling

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Section: Farms and Food Waste: Inserting Growers' Views Into The Convmentioning

confidence: 99%

Does on-farm food loss prevent waste? Insights from California produce growers

Gillman

Campbell

Spang

2019

Resources, Conservation and Recycling

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“…Currently, most initiatives to reduce farm-level FLW (and simultaneously address food insecurity) involve an approach where producers donate food to food banks (Bilska et al 2016;Dou et al 2016;Garcia-Garcia et al 2015;MacRae et al 2016;Papargyropoulou et al 2014;Schneider 2013), but this model often fails to support producers. In contrast, the most common approach to reducing FLW mentioned by respondents was to create opportunities for farmers to sell produce that is surplus or second-grade.…”

Section: Alternative Interventions For Addressing Flw and Food Insecumentioning

confidence: 99%

Do food donation tax credits for farmers address food loss/waste and food insecurity? A case study from Ontario

2019

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To increase donations of nutritious food, Ontario introduced a tax credit for farmers who donate agricultural products to food banks in 2013. This research seeks to investigate the role of Ontario's Food Donation Tax Credit for Farmers in addressing both food loss and waste (FLW) and food insecurity through a case study of fresh produce rescue in Windsor-Essex, Ontario. This research also documents the challenges associated with rescuing fresh produce from farms, as well as alternatives to donating. Interviews with food banks, producers and key informants revealed that perceptions of the tax credit, and the credit's ability to address FLW and food insecurity, contrasted greatly with the initial perceptions of the policymakers who created the tax credit. In particular, the legislators did not anticipate the logistical challenges associated with incentivizing this type of donation, nor the limitations of a donation-based intervention to provide food insecure Ontarians with access to fresh, nutritious food.

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“…The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA) also announced in 2015 the first U.S. food waste reduction goal, calling for a 50% reduction by 2030 (USDA 2015). An estimated 70 million metric tonnes (MMT) of edible food is lost annually in the United States, with nearly 60% of this occurring at the consumer level (Dou et al 2016). Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions associated with production of this food loss are estimated at 1.4 kilograms (kg) CO 2 -eq.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mapping the Influence of Food Waste in Food Packaging Environmental Performance Assessments

Heller

Selke

Keoleian

2018

J of Industrial Ecology

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SummaryScrutiny of food packaging environmental impacts has led to a variety of sustainability directives, but has largely focused on the direct impacts of materials. A growing awareness of the impacts of food waste warrants a recalibration of packaging environmental assessment to include the indirect effects due to influences on food waste. In this study, we model 13 food products and their typical packaging formats through a consistent life cycle assessment framework in order to demonstrate the effect of food waste on overall system greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and cumulative energy demand (CED). Starting with food waste rate estimates from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, we calculate the effect on GHG emissions and CED of a hypothetical 10% decrease in food waste rate. This defines a limit for increases in packaging impacts from innovative packaging solutions that will still lead to net system environmental benefits. The ratio of food production to packaging production environmental impact provides a guide to predicting food waste effects on system performance. Based on a survey of the food LCA literature, this ratio for GHG emissions ranges from 0.06 (wine example) to 780 (beef example). High ratios with foods such as cereals, dairy, seafood, and meats suggest greater opportunity for net impact reductions through packaging-based food waste reduction innovations. While this study is not intended to provide definitive LCAs for the product/package systems modeled, it does illustrate both the importance of considering food waste when comparing packaging alternatives, and the potential for using packaging to reduce overall system impacts by reducing food waste. Keywords:food packaging food waste greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions industrial ecology life cycle assessment (LCA) life cycle energy analysis Supporting information is linked to this article on the JIE website

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Assessing U.S. food wastage and opportunities for reduction

Cited by 94 publications

References 10 publications

Does on-farm food loss prevent waste? Insights from California produce growers

Does on-farm food loss prevent waste? Insights from California produce growers

Do food donation tax credits for farmers address food loss/waste and food insecurity? A case study from Ontario

Mapping the Influence of Food Waste in Food Packaging Environmental Performance Assessments

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