Food losses and waste in primary production

What to Do with Food Waste? A Holistic Feasibility Framework to Evaluate Different Solutions

“…Ideally, the feasibility aspects should be considered in the planning phase of the solutions, before any piloting takes place. A share of the climate impact caused by the field production of carrots was allocated to the production of carrot peel soap based on economic allocation using the assumptions that the share of 2nd class yield in carrot production is 12% [26]. It was also assumed that the economic value of 1st class carrots sold to food use is 0.64 EUR/kg [40] while the economic value of peeled 2nd class carrots is similar to that of fodder carrots, EUR 0.23 per kg [41].…”

“…The consumer study included branding of the products and consumer information about the opportunity to decrease food waste in the food chain by buying the 2nd class vegetables (Figure A4). A share of the climate impact caused by field production of carrots was allocated to the 2nd class yield based on economic allocation using the assumptions that the share of 2nd class yield in carrot production is 12% [26], as in case example 1, but the economic value of the 1st and 2nd class carrots would be 1.98 and 0.99 EUR/kg, respectively (data collected during the consumer study).…”

“…In Finland, the carrot is the most cultivated open-field vegetable [25]. According to a previous study [26], out of all carrot production, 26% is not directed to the food chain (SD 0.15, n = 27 farmers). Most of this rejected carrot mass occurs after harvest during sorting (55%) or storing (28%), while 13% occurs during harvest (and is left either unharvested or unsorted).…”

“…The sales of the 2nd class carrots were 31% of that of the alternative 1st class product (unpacked 1st class carrots) during a two-week-long consumer study in November 2018 [31]. In proportion to the national annual 1st class carrot yield that is sold to food use (calculated as an average of years 2014-2018, [25]) and the estimated 2nd class carrot yield (12% of total carrot production, [26]), at least most of the 2nd class yield could potentially be sold to consumers. However, this could mean that as a rebound the sales of the 1st class product are reduced.…”

A Century of Profligacy? The Measurement and Evolution of Food Waste

“…In addition to top-down balance sheet approaches, food waste has also been measured using surveys at different stages of food production and consumption. Some researchers have surveyed and analyzed household waste disposed for curbside collection (Brown 1918;Quested, Easteal, and Ingle 2013;Parizeau, von Massow, and Martin 2015; EPA 2016; Hoover 2017; Quested and Parry 2017), while others have collected data through household food diaries or apps on mobile devices (Woods 1892;Quested and Johnson 2009;Hoover 2017;Roe et al 2018), or surveyed the food left in farm fields after harvest (Hartikainen et al 2017;Sheane, McCosker, and Lillywhite 2017;Johnson et al 2018b). 18 Unfortunately, due to their limited external validity, results from these survey studies have not been used to improve top-down estimates.…”