IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v16y2024i11p4846-d1409687.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Definition of Food Consumption, Loss, and Waste

Author

Listed:
  • Arkalgud Ramaprasad

    (Department of Information and Decision Sciences, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL 60605, USA)

  • Shwetmala Kashyap

    (WRI India, Bengaluru 560004, Karnataka, India)

Abstract

The global food system has three recognized challenges: (a) increasing the availability of food for consumption; (b) reducing food loss; and (c) reducing food waste. The increasing demand for food for consumption, the increasing quantity of food loss, and the corresponding increase in food waste are resulting in serious health, aesthetic, social, economic, and environmental problems due to a lack of appropriate planning and management. Despite its importance, there is no clear, concise, and comprehensive definition of food consumption, loss, and waste. Generally, food consumption, food loss, and food waste are dealt with separately. This article presents a logically constructed ontological framework of food consumption, loss, and waste. It gives equal importance to all three aspects of global food management. The systemic ontological framework is general, and the analysis can be applied to any country. The framework deconstructs the combinatorial complexity of the problem and explicates the pathways to manage the consumption, loss, and waste. The ontological framework encapsulates 19 × 11 × 7 × 4 × 6 = 35,112 possible components of the challenge. A critical analysis based on available data using the framework will help to develop strategies to deal with the problem. It can help us to discover the gaps and to find ways to bridge the gaps. It is a novel way to conceptualize food consumption, loss, and waste together.

Suggested Citation

  • Arkalgud Ramaprasad & Shwetmala Kashyap, 2024. "Definition of Food Consumption, Loss, and Waste," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(11), pages 1-13, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:16:y:2024:i:11:p:4846-:d:1409687
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/11/4846/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/11/4846/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Chaboud, Géraldine, 2017. "Assessing food losses and waste with a methodological framework: Insights from a case study," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 125(C), pages 188-197.
    2. Beausang, Ciara & Hall, Clare & Toma, Luiza, 2017. "Food waste and losses in primary production: Qualitative insights from horticulture," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 126(C), pages 177-185.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Bianca Cezara Archip & Ioan Banatean-Dunea & Dacinia Crina Petrescu & Ruxandra Malina Petrescu-Mag, 2023. "Determinants of Food Waste in Cluj-Napoca (Romania): A Community-Based System Dynamics Approach," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(3), pages 1-22, January.
    2. Trebbin, Anika & Herzberg, Ronja & Schneider, Felicitas, 2023. "Lebensmittelverluste bei Obst und Gemüse – die Rolle von Qualitätsanforderungen und Unternehmenspraktiken des Lebensmitteleinzelhandels," Thünen Working Paper 334338, Johann Heinrich von Thünen-Institut (vTI), Federal Research Institute for Rural Areas, Forestry and Fisheries.
    3. Martine J. Barons & Lael E. Walsh & Edward E. Salakpi & Linda Nichols, 2024. "A Decision Support System for Sustainable Agriculture and Food Loss Reduction under Uncertain Agricultural Policy Frameworks," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 14(3), pages 1-21, March.
    4. Shelley Fox & Owen Kenny & Francesco Noci & Maria Dermiki, 2023. "A Pilot Study on Industry Stakeholders’ Views towards Revalorization of Surplus Material from the Fruit and Vegetable Sector as a Way to Reduce Food Waste," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(23), pages 1-19, November.
    5. Klara Strecker & Verena Bitzer & Froukje Kruijssen, 2022. "Critical stages for post-harvest losses and nutrition outcomes in the value chains of bush beans and nightshade in Uganda," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 14(2), pages 411-426, April.
    6. Trebbin, Anika & Herzberg, Ronja & Schneider, Felicitas, 2023. "Lebensmittelverluste bei Obst und Gemüse - Die Rolle von Qualitätsanforderungen und Unternehmenspraktiken des Lebensmitteleinzelhandels," Thünen Working Papers 202, Johann Heinrich von Thünen Institute, Federal Research Institute for Rural Areas, Forestry and Fisheries.
    7. Sourabh Jain & Jury Gualandris, 2023. "When does upcycling mitigate climate change? The case of wet spent grains and fruit and vegetable residues in Canada," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 27(2), pages 522-534, April.
    8. Evert Los & Cornelis Gardebroek & Ruud Huirne, 2021. "Explaining output price heterogeneity in Dutch horticulture," Agribusiness, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 37(4), pages 891-914, October.
    9. Beata Bilska & Marzena Tomaszewska & Danuta Kołożyn-Krajewska, 2022. "The Management of Meals in Food Service Establishments in the Context of Food Waste—Results of Focus Group Interviews with Employees and Owners," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(15), pages 1-17, July.
    10. Li Jia & Guanghua Qiao, 2022. "Quantification, Environmental Impact, and Behavior Management: A Bibliometric Analysis and Review of Global Food Waste Research Based on CiteSpace," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(18), pages 1-24, September.
    11. Shahin Ghaziani & Gholamreza Dehbozorgi & Mohammad Bakhshoodeh & Reiner Doluschitz, 2023. "Unraveling On-Farm Wheat Loss in Fars Province, Iran: A Qualitative Analysis and Exploration of Potential Solutions with Emphasis on Agricultural Cooperatives," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(16), pages 1-24, August.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:16:y:2024:i:11:p:4846-:d:1409687. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.