Today, food waste is a significant issue in current food systems. Cities have emerged as crucial actors in the global food security geography, according to the Euro-Mediterranean Center on Climate Change (CMCC) Foundation. The news comes as there has been an increase in food loss and waste due to movement and transport restrictions as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has estimated that more than one-third of food is lost or wasted along the entire food supply chain, causing significant economic, social and environmental impacts.

From an environmental perspective, food waste represents between 8 and 10 percent of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The annual water footprint of the agricultural phase of food waste is about 250 km3. 

The IPCC Special Report Climate Change and Land (2018) estimates that 37 percent of total GHG emissions are attributable to the food system considering its complete cycle, from agriculture and land use, storage, transport, packaging, processing, retail, consumption and waste.

In the EU, 88 million tons of food waste is generated each year with significant economic, environmental and social impacts. It has been estimated that 15 to 16 percent of Europe’s food supply chain’s total ecological impact can be attributed to food waste.

Cities in the spotlight
Today, global cities occupy approximately only 3 percent of the total land, but they have proved to be crucial actors in launching effective policies and initiatives to address food waste.

By looking at 40 cities across 16 European countries, a study recently published in Resources - Special issue Food Loss and Waste: The Challenge of a Sustainable Management through a Circular Economy Perspective presented a new framework for assessing urban food waste policies and initiatives.

“Food loss and waste are recognized as one of the most challenging distortions of the current food system,” explains Dr. Marta Antonelli, senior scientist at the CMCC Foundation and Head of Research at Barilla Foundation. 

“We talk about distortion because we produce tons of edible food waste every year. Food loss occurs from the farm up to and excluding retail, while food waste occurs at retail, foodservice, and household levels,” she explains 

“Causes range from poor handling, inadequate transport or storage, lack of cold chain capacity, extreme weather conditions to cosmetic standards, and a lack of planning and cooking skills among consumers.”

“COVID-19 aside, each year, about 14 percent of the world’s food is lost before even reaching the market,” she urges. 

Food waste management and urban policies
Reducing food lost or wasted means more food for all, less greenhouse gas emissions, and less pressure on the environment, mostly water and land resources, increased productivity and economic growth, and more sustainable societies.

Food waste management is a very complex challenge, according to Antonelli. “Since it requires diversified but integrated actions that involve many public local authorities, such as cities, regions, metropolitan areas and provinces, and other actors including retailers, school canteens, hospitals, food markets, citizens and non-governmental organizations,” she flags. 

“All these actors and levels of governance need to work in a synergic way to ensure effective urban food waste policies.”

Cities can have a crucial role in acting on different sectors and levels of the urban food system. The City of Milan, for example, approved a waste tax deduction for actors that contribute to reducing food waste through donations. 

“Tackling food waste can be a key component of wider initiatives based on integrated management of the urban challenges and that promote the collaboration and coordination of the urban ecosystem,” Antonelli adds. 

“If we look at urban food waste interventions, we have very few cases of integrated, multi-sectoral and multi-actorial management of food waste. Cities are currently promoting new models of governance, such as launching new institutional settings, creating regional and global networks of mayors advocating for more sustainable food systems, and coordinating initiatives to address food waste-related challenges in an integrated manner,” she further explains. 

The study undermines the importance of providing city officials with useful tools to collect data on urban food waste levels and understand the problem’s scope and design action. 

“Moreover, urban food waste policies and interventions must be fully aligned with the targets of the Agenda 2030,” Antonelli continues. 

“only in four cases (Cremona, Liège, Milan and Montpellier), food waste interventions were explicitly put in relation with the SDGs. The research showed that cities seldom use the SDGs as a policy framework, thus limiting the evaluation of the impact of these interventions on the sustainability agenda.”

Therefore, it is essential to raise more awareness among local policymakers, public officials, the private sector, and citizens to fully monitor the link and food waste impact on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). 

“Cities are implementing many urban food waste initiatives, but what it’s still rare is an integrated vision in addressing these issues in this sense, the recently adopted ‘Farm to Fork’ Strategy, part of the broader objective of making the EU food system the global standard for sustainability.”

“This represents the first step of the European Commission to address food system-related challenges in an integrated manner, for example, putting human health and sustainability on the same level,” she concludes.