COVID-19, the Food System and the Circular Economy: Challenges and Opportunities

Abstract

This paper analyzes the causes and effects of the COVID-19 crisis, with a specific focus on the food system. Food consumption and production has not only been impacted by the crisis, but it may have also contributed to causing the pandemic. After providing a brief introductory framework, the paper presents the results of a pilot study on the link between COVID-19 and the food system, as indicated by the social media activity of selected European Union (EU) Twitter accounts, measured using an original “theme popularity” metric. Thereafter, a systematic review of the literature is proposed to identify the causes of the rise in popularity of a sustainable food system theme, the potential consequences of the COVID-19 crisis for the food system (targeting the production, consumption and waste disposal phases) and possible solutions, focusing on the circular economy. Challenges and opportunities for policymakers in the short and long term are discussed. A holistic approach is advocated, as the global food system is intimately connected with society and requires deep cooperation among nation states and economic actors.

Circular Food Behaviors: A Literature Review

“…The circular economy is a framework that can help to integrate sustainability in food systems [13,63]. Promoting circularity in food systems is more relevant than ever, considering that the ongoing pandemics "has highlighted the importance of sustainable food management by revealing the food system as a pivotal aspect of the sustainable supply chain" [66] (p. 9). In this sense, the literature lacked an integration of what has been studied so far in terms of circular food behaviors.…”

“…They can learn how to interact with food products designed for circularity and change their perception of what "waste" is [56]. This learning can happen through formal education in schools, promotion campaigns in the media [59,64,65], educa-of 27 tion policies promoted by governments [66], or even through companies' educational and engagement efforts [56]. It can also occur in niche experiments that educate consumers [57] and develop their skills and knowledge through the exchange between people [62].…”

“…Social outcomes, such as consumers' health and healthcare costs [73], could be further explored. In addition, considering that the ongoing pandemic situation has changed food consumption habits [66], studies could investigate changes in food-related lifestyle behaviors in the "post-COVID" world.…”

COVID-19 and municipal solid waste (MSW) management: a review

“…Another domain in which the circular economy appears particularly relevant is the highly sensitive area of food production and distribution. With traditional supply chain systems leaving open ends in terms of accumulating waste in both farms and households, closed circular food waste recycling can provide better alternatives (Giudice et al 2020 ). Closed circular and regenerative practices can reduce the load of biodegradable and chemical wastes on management systems, meaning that more resources can be allocated to handling medical waste.…”

The research on COVID-19 and economy from 2019 to 2020: analysis from the perspective of bibliometrics

“…As the most basic industry, the pandemic's economic impacts on agriculture are huge. Many researchers focused on fishery (Giannakis et al, 2020;Knight et al, 2020), food (Barcaccia et al, 2020;Giudice et al, 2020;van der Ploeg, 2020;Zhang Y. et al, 2020) and dairy (Hussain et al, 2020;Uddin et al, 2020;Weersink et al, 2020), etc. Business is one of the parts that have received lots of attention, in which there have been many discussions on company's financial performance (Folger-Laronde et al, 2020;Rababah et al, 2020), the listed companies (Rababah et al, 2020;Xiong et al, 2020), the supply chain (Al-Mansour & Al-Ajmi, 2020;Inoue & Todo, 2020;Taqi et al, 2020), the e-commerce market (Bozhechkova et al, 2020), etc.…”