Food Waste Sustainability: Measures, Metrics, and Solutions Report

This report delves into the critical issue of food waste, examining its multifaceted dimensions and proposing sustainable management strategies. It begins by establishing the core theme of food sustainability, emphasizing the importance of responsible practices across the entire food chain, from production to consumption. The report highlights the environmental issues associated with food waste, including resource depletion, greenhouse gas emissions, and landfill overcrowding. It then explores the economic, social, and political implications of food waste, such as financial losses, food insecurity, and the need for policy interventions. The report presents a research and development approach to address food waste, posing key research questions related to its causes, impacts, and potential solutions. It then outlines the concept of food waste sustainability, focusing on metrics and measures to reduce waste and promote efficient resource utilization. The report concludes by emphasizing the need for a comprehensive approach to food waste management, incorporating environmental, economic, and social considerations to create a more sustainable and equitable food system. This analysis provides insights into the complexities of food waste and proposes actionable steps toward a more responsible and sustainable future.

Running Head: FOOD WASTE
Sustainable Management of Food Waste
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
Theme of the project........................................................................................................................3
Food sustainability Measures and Metrics..................................................................................3
Environmental Issues...................................................................................................................3
Association of Food Print Index..................................................................................................4
Rationale of the Theme....................................................................................................................4
Problem Statement.......................................................................................................................4
Implications on Social, economic, political aspects....................................................................5
Purpose Statement.......................................................................................................................5
Reason for R&D approach...........................................................................................................5
Research Question...........................................................................................................................6
Description of the food waste sustainability....................................................................................6
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................8
Reference.........................................................................................................................................9

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Introduction
Food is one of the vital attributes that contribute to the existence of the living organism.
The distribution of food availability is not equal at every corner of the world. Some countries are
dying from the food scarcity and on the other hand, some are wasting the abundance of available
food (Tielens & Candel, 2014). Hence, the sustainable management of food waste is required at
the highest priority in every country and it must be the prime concern of the government.
The undertaken project will discuss the various aspect of bringing sustainability in food
waste and those are; the main theme of the project, rationale behind the theme, the research
questions and overall description of the topic.
Theme of the project
Food sustainability Measures and Metrics
The concept of food sustainability is about utilizing the food in such a way that the future
generation has no scarcity of it. The factors that are associated with the sustainability of food are
the ways the food is grown, harvested, packed, transported and finally sold in the market (Dou et
al., 2016). All the steps are quite important for carrying out the entire sustainability of the food.
The food sustainability measures is about the development of a system in which the food
waste can be reduced and provide a value in its surrounding. Whereas the food sustainability
metrics is about the quantitative approach that can track the intake of food, quality of food,
dietary choice of people, living environment of the people, fitness of food system and
accessibility of food.

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Environmental Issues
The issue of food waste mainly occurs during the production, harvesting and storage of
the food items. The rest occurs when the food is processed, transported and consumed. The
wastage of food occurs globally. It not limited to only one country or nation. The energy and
resources required in the process of the food are ultimately getting wasted at the end (Yildirim et
al., 2016). The landfills are getting overcrowded day by day by the amount of food waste
producing. The increase in the greenhouses gases and as a result the global warming is also
increasing at greater speed. The biodiversity is getting effected and exhausted to provide food for
all.
Association of Food Print Index
The Print index is directly associated with the issue under consideration. There are two
sides of this index one is the Food Loss Index, and the other is the Food Waste Index
(Sandaruwani & Gnanapala, 2016). We will focus on the FWI, it is associated with how the
suppliers of food take the decision about the quality or quantity of the food, actions of the food
retailers, consumers and food service providers.
Rationale of the Theme
Problem Statement
The undertaken issue of food waste is crucial to acknowledge for the long run, as
sustainability is a huge factor that is associated with the future of the new generation as well as
the environment. The basic problem of food waste generates at the time of production of food,
the un-skilled practitioners waste a huge quantity of food while harvesting it, the unavailability
of knowledge of the procedures and ways to store the food or transport it to the different places
are the root for the food waste (Aschemann-Witzel et al., 2015). The production of food is

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increasing with the increase of population, however, the ways to conserve the food as well as use
it in a proper manner is lacking in the general public too.
Implications on Social, economic, political aspects
The implications that are observed in the economic aspect of food waster sustainability
are that the wastage of food takes place every year is around $1 trillion. The impact on the
economy is around $3 trillion around the world. The hike in the prices of food items contributes
to the dis-balance in the economy and this comes from the production cost, storage cost and
transportation cost. In parallel to that, the waste of food is increasing which is directly increasing
the inventory prises to cover the losses (Capone et al., 2014). The social implications are related
to the high prices of the food, unavailability of food at remote areas and globally shortage of
food. All these are interconnected with the poor waste management and sustainability plan. The
wastage of food raises the question of unavailability of food in several countries, as per the
statistics the amount of food wasted every year can feed nearly 870 million people all over the
world. The political aspects of food waste are the allowance of the low-cost food items into the
economy may hike the profit of the economy by decreases the quality of food as well as
consumption rate (Shafiee-Jood & Cai, 2016). The political policies on the food wastage can
control it at greater length. It controls the overconsumption, rules on landfill directions, the
formation of committees that are concerned only with the statistics of food wastage. The
unhealthy lifestyle of people is contributing to food waste more. It is stated by various experts
that the food wasting culture will always be present in humans as it manifests a sense of power.

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Purpose Statement
Reason for R&D approach
The reason behind undertaking the research and development approach for conducting
the project of food waste sustainability is that it helps to acquire the existing data and info ration
related to the topic and progress in the right direction with lots of existing information. The
utilization of the resources to conduct the project on the existing process and tools for the same
aim make the research process easier. This approach provides a clear path toward the success of
the project. The issue of the project is about food wastage and this phenomenon is not new in
today’s world (Mourad, 2016). It was present in the earlier days too, only the rate has increased
drastically with an increase in the population. The choices of people have also altered from
earlier days. Therefore, the production of food as per the choices of the people is not always
people. This is also added as a reason for the existing reasons for food waste. The sustainability
of the food has always been a concern, hence searching from the existing articles and journals
and then developing the project step by step is a wise way to proceed toward the success of the
project.
Research Question
The research question related to the project are as follows:
 What are the reasons for food waste?
 How food waste impact on the aspects of the environment, economic, social and politics?
 How food waste can be controlled in modern society?
 How sustainability of food can be achieved?
 How food waste metrics and measures help in controlling the waste of food?

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Description of the food waste sustainability
In a system of food sustainability, the requirement is to develop a positive value for the
environment and economy. The various dimensions that are the most affected by the food
wastage have perspective differently toward the effects. The economic dimension is about the
concrete support of the participants those are the food suppliers, sellers and the consumers
(Lucifero, 2016). The decrease in the economic value is experienced by the daily wage workers
in the field, the taxpayers, and several people at several levels of the economy. The social
dimension is intertwined with the economic values and obtain the socio-culture outcomes. The
environment dimension is observed by the impact on the nature that is the condition of the soil,
water, plant, the health of human, carbon footprint, toxicity and several other aspects depicts due
to the increase in the deliberate food waste.
The proposed metrics that can bring sustainability in food waste are:
 The actual data about food intake and consumption. So that the overconsumption of food
can be abolished as well as minimized with several control techniques. The initiatives
taken by the small groups from the political background can control this situation (Scott,
2017). The survey from the government recording the number of consumers of food in a
particular house and estimating the quantity of food consumption per year.
 The next one is the quality control of the food produced in a batch. One of the main
reason for food waste is the degrading quality of food items. Hence, keeping track of the
produced with the estimated standards will contribute to the lowering of food waste. This
is an effective metric to bring sustainability in the same area.
 The third metric is about the choices of food that people in an area are preferring. The
amount of that food items can be increased than that of the unwanted items which straight

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goes into waste bins. The equal involvement of men and women in this will increase its
effectiveness. The dietary choices are one of the important aspects of consuming the
optimal proportion of quality and quantity of food.
 The metrics for estimating the environment of food exists in a particular area. The food
chain must be maintained and any lagging must be fulfilled at the earliest possible time. It
also includes factors such as availability, affordability and accessibility of the desired
food.
 The fitness in the food system is another metric that evaluates the food chain starting
from its production process until its marketing. The change in the dynamics will indicate
the food environment of a particular group of people and thus contributing a step in
conserving the food.
 The last metric will be on the basis of the availability and accessibility of food by the
people. The quantity and quality of food available determine the consumption rate. The
scarcity of food in several countries are observed and this comes from the irrational
distribution of food items in a particular place. The extremely poor countries can be
provided with the food by applying the measures and policies to carry out the action.
Conclusion
It can be concluded from the above that food wastage has increased drastically in the
coming years and it has been observed that this may continue in future too. The people in some
countries have died due to the unavailability of food. The wastage of food is affecting the
environment by exhausting resources while producing food items. The metrics, measures and
indicators are required to develop the food print index. The above-provided information can play
a vital role in doing so. The research questions developed will help in solving the overall project

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while answering them throughout. The indicators to measure the quantity of food wasted and the
sustainability plan will aid in creating the food print index.

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Reference
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