Food Loss and Food Waste in the Mediterranean

This chapter discusses food loss and food waste along the food supply chain in the Mediterranean, explains the opportunities for food loss and food waste at the consumer level and through societal and governmental initiatives, and recognizes the reduction strategies available through by-product innovation. Nearly 4 billion metric tons of food are produced annually for human consumption, but 1/3 is lost through the food supply chain. Challenges to food loss and food waste are presented through harvest, drying, storage, processing, distribution, and at the consumption stage. Weather damages crops, market prices can effect storage times, consumers practice poor portioning and etc. Reducing food waste at the sour by 20% is one of the key strategies that would save more food than the annual increase in total food production and would feed millions of people. Associations such as the Food Waste Reduction Alliance (FWRA), Grocery Manufacturing Association (GMA), ad the National Restaurant Association (NRA) were assembled to reduce food lost, recover safe and nutritious food, and recycle unavoidable food. There are governmental initiatives to subsidize individual consumption in Italy and Egypt. This chapter is part of Module 8: How to Achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) in the Mediterranean – The Way Forward IV. Reducing Food Waste and Enhancing By-Product Innovations.

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