The Italian Observatory on Food Surplus, Recovery, and Waste: The Development Process and Future Achievements

Abstract

Food loss and waste (FLW) is an environmental, social, and economic problem. Countries all around the world are looking for efficient strategies to prevent and reduce FLW, as recommended by target 12.3 of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations. The European Union (EU) is strongly committed to helping solve the FLW issue, setting up the Platform on Food Losses and Food Waste, and adopting the Farm to Fork Strategy. Italy has also adopted a consolidated approach toward this issue, in particular through the redistribution of food surplus to those in need, a policy that was instituted with the Gadda Law 166/2016. Importantly, this normative framework also provided for the establishment of the National Observatory on Food Surplus, Recovery, and Waste [Osservatorio sulle Eccedenze, i Recuperi e gli Sprechi Alimentari (OERSA)]. This article describes the creation and development of the OERSA, as the technical entity supporting national FLW policies. One of the first actions taken by the OERSA was that of mapping the FLW initiatives that were being implemented along the entire food supply chain in Italy. This gave the OERSA a solid foundation on which to begin working on two different fronts: (1) Collecting data regarding the primary production sector and at the consumer level and (2) Establishing educational programs and awareness campaigns. The data collected by the OERSA highlight that, although several actors of the Italian supply chain are already conscious of the causes of FLW, new strategies that focus on innovation and cooperation should be encouraged.

Consumer behaviour and household food waste in Greece

“…Despite these variations, university education consistently emerged as the most prominent educational level in all four clusters, suggesting its association with the various consumer behaviours related to food waste. These results are consistent with those of similar studies which emphasised the importance of education and informational campaigns in increasing consumer awareness and food waste-prevention skills (Pappalardo et al, 2020;Gaiani et al, 2018;Pocol et al, 2020;Amicarelli and Bux, 2021a, b;Cosgrove et al, 2021;Attiq et al, 2021;Grant and Rossi, 2022;Annunziata et al, 2022).…”

Lignocellulosic Residues from Fruit Trees: Availability, Characterization, and Energetic Potential Valorization

“…In minor quantities the industry also produces apples, peaches, cherries, plums, apricots, and other fruits in smaller quantities. Italy is among the top European producers of dried fruits, including hazelnuts, almonds, walnuts, as well as pistachios and pecans [7,16]. In the ISTAT Annual Report 2021 [17], the annual production of fruits in Italy is reported.…”

Enhancing Food and Nutrition Literacy: A Key Strategy for Reducing Food Waste and Improving Diet Quality

“…Food and nutrition literacy is based on knowledge acquired by consumers and on past experiences with food, so from the point of view of educational policies, interventions for both aspects should be implemented [69,70,72]. Work should be done to support positive experiences with food and to raise awareness of the consequences of food waste, especially early in life, which is a crucial phase for the development of eating habits [68,73,74]. A positive association between food literacy and correct eating habits was observed in children who demonstrated a greater ability to obtain health benefits through a balanced and healthy diet following their attendance at an educational program of food literacy [75].…”