Social Supermarket and Sustainability

Abstract

Food waste increases the amount of food waste, which, combined with the amount of waste from other areas or due to industrial surplus, has irreversible consequences on the environment. To avoid disastrous consequences with economic, social, political and ethnic implications, it is necessary to identify viable solutions so that the food surplus can be redistributed to food banks, food pantries or social supermarkets, in optimal conditions, thus becoming a sustainable social good. This study aims to analyse the link between food banks, considered charities and social supermarkets. It is also useful to identify policies to support food donation actions but, simultaneously, to identify solutions to improve supply management in the field. Simultaneously, it wants to identify functional solutions at the level of European countries that may have applicability in the US, giving people who face food and financial insecurity, dignified access to products needed for daily consumption. The authors consider it necessary to identify innovative solutions to reduce food losses and waste but also promoting actions to raise public awareness for a rational and healthy consumption.