Challenges and opportunities in fighting food waste
what are the main challenges and opportunities in fighting food waste in local practices?Challenges and opportunities in fighting food waste
what are the main challenges and opportunities in fighting food waste in local practices?Samenvatting
Food waste is a growing problem; 925 million people are living in starvation, while the total food loss worldwide could feed more than three billion people (Stop Wasting Food, n.d.). Food waste does not only impact society, it also impacts the environment; It is a waste of water, energy, and land (Engelsma, S. Timmer, F. 2019). Globally, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations are tackling this problem, in specific SDG 12.3.
Internationally and nationally, food waste is tackled by SDG 12.3. However, on a local level, food waste does not always have priority. Municipalities have a choice in what to focus on regarding certain matters. Nonetheless, it is an important aspect in life that will eventually lead to long-term impacts if it is not combatted. Therefore, this study aims to feed the debate what the main challenges and opportunities are in fighting food waste in local practices, leading to the main research question: “What are the main challenges and opportunities in fighting food waste in local practices?”.
To answer the research question, six private actors and one public actor are selected as case studies based on their characteristics. The actors are explored through interviews with private companies. In addition, desk research is completed to investigate different food waste laws on an international, national, and municipal level within the public sector.
Analysis of the case studies confirms that opportunities in fighting food waste lie in providing more financial support for initiatives fighting food waste. In addition, awareness needs to increase, and an independent organisation has to deal with food waste. Challenges are the lack of planning and the reassessment of the expiration date. For this reason, the policy-setting (on the expiration date) has to be executed at a national level and should be done via Multi-level governance. Subsequently, the municipalities are forced to implement this new policy.
The recommendation for this challenge is that the Voedselwarenautoriteit should be in charge of transforming the food trends into sustainable trends, increasing food knowledge and reassessing the expiration date. It will become the leading organisation in maintaining relationships between the ministries. An important conclusion is that there is not enough interaction between the ministries, government bodies, and the food waste organisations. The advice is that the Voedselwarenautoriteit needs to take this role.
Organisatie | De Haagse Hogeschool |
Opleiding | MO Europese Studies / European Studies |
Afdeling | Faculteit Management & Organisatie |
Jaar | 2021 |
Type | Bachelor |
Taal | Engels |