Strategies for FLW reduction

This chapter addresses the drivers of FLW which were examined in Chapter 4 and then looks at the strategies for FLW minimization, across the food supply chain. It examines strategies at the following stages: pre-harvest, post-harvest storage, transport, food processing, retailing, packaging, hospitality sector, non-profit institutional food service sector, and at the household level. The chapter notes the importance of technology in effecting a number of these strategies. At the consumer level, the chapter looks at proposals for Social Innovation to achieve behavioural change among consumers. The chapter stresses the importance across the supply chain of integrated remedies, awareness-raising and incorporating FLW minimization considerations into business practices. Two other strategies which are considered is the redistribution of food and the valorization of wastes, which is an important feature of food policy formulation as decisions may be taken about whether to discard waste in landfill, recycle it, e.g., as animal feed, or use it as fuel to generate energy.