Understanding the Sustainability of Retail Food Recovery

Abstract

In this paper we study the simultaneous problems of food waste and hunger in the context of food (waste) rescue and redistribution as a means for mitigating hunger. To this end, we develop an empirical model that can be used in Monte Carlo simulations to study the dynamics of the underlying problem. Our model's parameters are derived from a data set provided by a large food bank and food rescue organization in north central Colorado. We find that food supply is a non-parametric heavy-tailed process that is well modeled with an extreme value peaks over threshold model. Although the underlying process is stochastic, the basic approach of food rescue and redistribution to meet hunger demand appears to be feasible. The ultimate sustainability of this model is intimately tied to the rate at which food expires and hence the ability to preserve and quickly transport and redistribute food. The cost of the redistribution is related to the number and density of participating suppliers. The results show that costs can be reduced (and supply increased) simply by recruiting additional donors to participate. With sufficient funding and manpower, a significant amount of food can be rescued from the waste stream and used to feed the hungry.

Recycling, recovering and preventing “food waste”: competing solutions for food systems sustainability in the United States and France

“…Food waste solutions can be subject to economic and financial analyses such as the ones conducted for packaging waste recycling in France and Europe (Cabral et al, 2013;Da Cruz et al, 2014). Moreover, while food waste scholars increasingly exchange with the fields of public health or food poverty (Escajedo San-epifanio andDe Renobales Scheifler, 2015, Neff et al, 2015a), studies assessing the potential of food redistribution (O'Donnell et al, 2015;Phillips et al, 2011;Reynolds et al, 2015;Schneider, 2013b) should be put into perspective with social and political criticisms of such systems (Midgley, 2013;Poppendieck, 1999).…”

Food Loss and Waste: Measurement, Drivers, and Solutions

“…In response to these challenges of recovery efficiency, several recent studies focus on new models to optimize redistribution of surpluses from various industries (27,(133)(134)(135)(136), assessments of the availability and recoverability of edible food (27), and even the use of social networks to promote a sharing economy for surplus food recovery (137,138). Advanced information systems can better enable robust tracking and delivery of donated food flows by monitoring and integrating key logistical parameters, such as timing of donation deliveries, rate of product expiration, and available options for redistribution (139).…”

Analysis and prediction of food donation behavior for a domestic hunger relief organization

“…Mohan et al [14] determine the best configuration and utilization of warehouse resources to improve the flow of donated food from receipt to storage. Phillips et al [35] develop pickup schedules from local supermarkets to quantify the benefit of recovering surplus food. Sönmez et al [36] identify the optimal number of gleaning trips to schedule during a finite planning horizon.…”