Relationship between food waste, diet quality, and environmental sustainability

Abstract

Improving diet quality while simultaneously reducing environmental impact is a critical focus globally. Metrics linking diet quality and sustainability have typically focused on a limited suite of indicators, and have not included food waste. To address this important research gap, we examine the relationship between food waste, diet quality, nutrient waste, and multiple measures of sustainability: use of cropland, irrigation water, pesticides, and fertilizers. Data on food intake, food waste, and application rates of agricultural amendments were collected from diverse US government sources. Diet quality was assessed using the Healthy Eating Index-2015. A biophysical simulation model was used to estimate the amount of cropland associated with wasted food. This analysis finds that US consumers wasted 422g of food per person daily, with 30 million acres of cropland used to produce this food every year. This accounts for 30% of daily calories available for consumption, one-quarter of daily food (by weight) available for consumption, and 7% of annual cropland acreage. Higher quality diets were associated with greater amounts of food waste and greater amounts of wasted irrigation water and pesticides, but less cropland waste. This is largely due to fruits and vegetables, which are health-promoting and require small amounts of cropland, but require substantial amounts of agricultural inputs. These results suggest that simultaneous efforts to improve diet quality and reduce food waste are necessary. Increasing consumers’ knowledge about how to prepare and store fruits and vegetables will be one of the practical solutions to reducing food waste.

From seed to flour: sowing sustainability in the use of cantaloupe melon residue (Cucumis melo L. var. reticulatus)

“…It is noteworthy that, especially for the 507 texture attribute, the cake that was the least well received by the panelists was the one 508 without addition of MSF. Conrad et al [53], studying the properties of melon seed 509 flour, maazoun variety, confirmed that the emulsifying ability of this product presented 510 better results than wheat flour, confirming that melon seed meal can potentially be 511 added to products of baking.…”

Losses in the Grain Supply Chain: Causes and Solutions

“…Another study performed an exploratory online survey using a questionnaire adapted for studies on FW [24]. Furthermore, multivariate analyses was carried out for a comparative analysis of the environmental characteristics of the EU Member States with different agricultural systems [26].…”

“…Conrad et al [26] analyzed the link between FW, diet quality, nutrient waste and sustainability in the US. Higher quality diets lead to higher FW associated with greater amounts of wasted irrigation water and pesticides but less cropland waste due to the increasing consumption of fruits and vegetables included in higher quality diets, which have lower cropland and higher input needs compared to other crops.…”

Study on Waste Generation and Composition in Rapid Residential Development of Sub Urban Area in Kuala Selangor District, Selangor

“…These observations, as well as the amount of food wasted, indicates that the residents are not only able to gain access to a variety of nutritional food, but also access to a large quantity of it, thus highlighting a problem of oversupply and wasted resources. Food waste, unfortunately, is a critical indicator of sustainability, as it represents the amount of resources throughout the food production process that are wasted in order to produce uneaten food [9]. Besides that, Food waste also contribute to greenhouse gaseous emission from the decomposition process [10].…”