A tool in the toolkit: Can true cost accounting remove siloed thinking about food loss and waste?

Bernd Bonfert, Miranda Burke, Aoife Caffrey, Siobhan Maderson, Amy Molotoks, Justine Pearce, Mehroosh Tak

Research output: Book/ReportOther reportpeer-review

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Abstract

Food loss and waste (FLW) is a global economic, environmental, and ethical problem which has been specifically targeted within the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs); goal 12.3 aims to “halve per capita global food waste at the retail and consumer level, and reduce food losses along production and supply chains by 2030”. While most efforts to decrease FLW focus on the individual consumer or householder, FLW is generated at all points throughout the food system, including production, processing,
distribution and consumption. Since FLW is exacerbated by long and complex supply chains with many different stakeholders throughout the food system, efforts to decrease it must engage with all stakeholders and all of their impacts on FLW, rather than simply focussing on individual stakeholders or processes. In this think-piece, True Cost Accounting (TCA), a method for measuring and quantifying the true social, economic, and environmental impacts of different food production systems, was explored to assess how it could help to overcome siloed thinking and support collaborative efforts to reduce FLW throughout the whole food system. To do this, a literature review was conducted, followed by a series of focus groups leading to the formation of 6 policy recommendations that could support stakeholder collaboration across the food system to reduce FLW.
Original languageEnglish
Number of pages24
DOIs
Publication statusPublished (in print/issue) - Mar 2022

Publication series

NameGlobal Food Security Publications

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