• Experts at CIHEAM Zaragoza highlight the need to reduce food waste to use natural resources more efficiently, mitigate climate change and support the food system

Over 35 professionals from 18 countries participated in an advanced course on food loss and waste (FLW) organized and hosted by CIHEAM Zaragoza from 29 May to 2 June 2023. The training addressed the need to define the issue more clearly in order to identify, better understand and quantify the causes and triggers of FLW and be able to design interventions, prevention policies and instruments. They gave special attention to developing a methodological framework to evaluate and monitor the effectiveness of prevention and reduction strategies.

Reduction of food waste is not just a question of saving money and natural resources, but also an ethical issue as it has an impact on food security and rising prices. The experts delivering the course reiterated that reducing FW has multiple benefits, such as efficient use of natural resources, less pressure on land and water resources, mitigation of climate change, enhanced food safety and better nutrition. Combining interventions and undertaking different initiatives can lead to a greater reduction in food waste.

CAUSES AND CONSEQUENCES OF FLW AND INTERVENTION DESIGN

José María Gil, (CREDA), scientific coordinator of the course, spoke of the consequences of FLW and its impact on climate change and on the availability and cost of food products, food safety, nutrition, and efficiency of the food system as a whole. He also pointed out the need for a theoretical framework to design and implement the interventions and policies needed to reduce food loss and waste.

Amelia Sarroca (CREDA), underlined the need to understand the multiple causes, and classify them according to each corresponding stage of the food chain: technological causes (inefficient food conservation systems, transport, handling, labelling errors); economic causes (purchase errors, stock management); structural causes (interaction between actors or lack of infrastructures); and causes based on the dynamics of the food system.

The course addressed consumer behaviour, the sociological focus, the natural-resource-based vision and the circular economy. Experts explained the theories, advantages and disadvantages of studying consumer behaviour, pointing out the psychological approach taken to identify factors that explain behaviour as well as the sociological approach, considering that new consumption patterns are normally due to new practices rather than a change in attitudes or values, without taking into account environmental factors. They presented theories based on natural resources, prevention of contamination, strategies to minimize emissions and food loss, and also addressed aspects related to production efficiency, water and energy saving, and cost reduction.

Matteo Vittuari (University of Bologna) explained experimental design, a statistical technique commonly used in implementing interventions to change behaviour patterns and reduce food waste (FW). The objective was to enable participants to understand, identify, and quantify the causes of the problem in the food chain and define the mechanisms of change, facilitating environments that can promote food waste reduction practices and integrate the mitigation of FW in the design of public policies.

PREVENTION POLICIES AND INSTRUMENTS

The course addressed various prevention instruments to reduce food waste and loss: educational, focused on awareness-raising; financial and commercial, to encourage changes in behaviour through market signals; and regulatory, including EU directives on donations, sustainability issues and multi-actor engagement.

Hilke Bos-Brouwers (University of Wageningen) presented nudging strategies as well as other capacity-building tools aimed at changing people’s behaviour. She shared insight on governmental regulatory instruments to change behaviour such as sanctions for non-compliance, licences or management plans.

Bos-Breuwers also addressed market-based programmes that encourage behaviour changes through market signals such as aids, subsidies, fiscal measures or tax breaks. She also stressed the need for each policy to include a design of how to solve a public issue. The design should include a clear definition of the policy’s objective, the political instruments to use, possible timelines and the target population.

During the course, Thomas Candeal (International Food Waste Coalition) spoke of the stages in the food chain, indicating that in the retail stage there is a large degree of consumerism and that due to the lack of connection between producers and consumers, FW is not a collateral problem but a deep-rooted part of the food system. He also indicated that huge challenges have to be overcome to reduce food waste, and FW prevention should become a social norm, increasing awareness and seeking a balance in supply and demand to avoid surplus. The reasons for FW in the retail sector are product expiration; difficulties in accurate sales forecasting leading to stock surplus; inappropriate product management by staff members and customers’ lack of social awareness.

Some noteworthy solutions for reducing FW are: donations, strengthening of short, local, supply chains, restocking with a smaller range of products, considering the impacts of promotions, and, once again, education and awareness-raising - changing customers’ expectations of finding supermarket shelves completely stocked, as well as technological solutions for improving forecasting.

Causes of FW in households include lack of planning, excessive provision, deficient storage and preservation, confusion about dates on labels, or excessive portion sizes. Solutions to reduce household food waste can be found in awareness campaigns, reminders in shops, optimized packaging for fresh produce, and improvements in dates on labels.

The main challenges for restaurants include quantification, training and incentives for staff, limiting overproduction and controlling portion sizes, donations and assessing whether food quality and food waste are interconnected and how.

HOW TO EVALUATE THE IMPACT OF INTERVENTIONS

Laura García-Herrero (JRC) presented an experimental focus, a core method for the evaluation of FW reduction interventions considering qualitative and quantitative criteria. She explained that qualitative criteria match their purpose, and can identify the problem by defining the objectives, considering key performance indicators (KPls), and evaluating sustainability over time to guarantee the continuity of interventions and establish the context to enable transferability and scalability.

García-Herrero also stressed that it was important to follow quantitative criteria to evaluate how the objectives are met, that is, to evaluate the relationship between the results obtained and the resources invested. It is extremely important to define the objectives correctly and to have amonitoring plan for impacts and for results. Furthermore, the segmentation of the target population, revision of past experiences, identification or definition of any theoretical frameworks behind the choice or the design of the intervention, can all lead to greater efficiency.

Regarding evaluation of products and services, consideration was also given to the product life cycle, from extraction and processing of the raw material to transport, distribution, consumption, reuse/recycling and elimination. In this sense, the focus Life Cycle Thinking (LCT) is of great importance, as it is the pillar of several European environmental initiatives and policies such as the Circular Economy Action Plan. The course revealed that interventions with an experimental focus, apart from being more effective, are the main approaches to evaluate the impact of food waste reduction interventions carried out by consumers.