Identifying key trends in food loss and waste in the global food system using the material flow analysis approach

Abstract

Food losses and wastes in the global food supply chain is not a new problem, but the gap of current, reliable information remains. The following paper aims to narrow this gap with a three part approach. First, this paper presents the global food system from a mass flow perspective using the most current statistics and methodology available. Highlighting the magnitude of losses and wastes at each stage of the food supply chain, from farm to feces. Next, the "average global diet" represents the ten most abundantly consumed foods on the planet in a mass flow perspective, in order to compare the losses and wastes between the two. Lastly, relevant trends in the global food mass flow and global diet mass flow are compared and discussed in order to assess the current state of global food loss and waste. Determining where the largest proporations of food loss and waste occure throughout the food chain allows for evidenced based decision making to address some of the unsustainable aspects of the current global food supply chain.