EC Library Guide on food waste: Selected publications
A selection of publications from international organisations
- Developing sustainable food value chains - Practical guidance for systems-based analysis and design: SFVC methodological brief
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), 2024.
This brief outlines a rigorous and standardized approach for value chain analysis and design, taking a systems perspective to analyse and influence the behaviour and performance of value chain actors influenced by a complex environment. The brief also covers the design of upgrading strategies and associated development plans, based on the identification of root causes of value chain bottlenecks and using a participatory and multistakeholder approach.
- Halving food loss and waste in the EU by 2030: The major steps needed to accelerate progress
WWF Deutschland, 2020.
Unsustainable production and consumption of food constitutes one of the biggest environmental threats to our planet. Eliminating food loss and waste to the largest extent possible – at all stages from producer to consumer – stands out as an urgent and indispensable step towards more sustainable food systems.
- No time to waste: Why the EU needs to adopt ambitious legally binding food waste reduction targets
Isabela Vera, Martin Bowman and Frank Mechielsen. Feedback EU, 2022.
The Commission is currently developing proposals for legally binding food waste targets for EU member states, including critical decisions about their ambition (with options ranging from 20% to 50% by 2030) and their scope (retail and consumer level only, or from farm to fork). This presents a remarkable opportunity for the EU to act ecisively and ambitiously on food waste, particularly at a time when the global food system is revealing its fragility.
- Simply measuring - quantifying food loss & waste: UNECE food loss and waste measuring methodology for fresh produce supply chains
United Nations Economic Commission for Europe, 2022.
The UNECE measuring methodology aims at quantifying food loss and waste at several key points of the fresh produce supply chain. The methodology builds on existing methodologies and newly developed elements based on studies already carried out. A simple methodology can foster the continuous recording of losses along the supply chain, collect most valuable data on production, sales and losses, and thus encourage the repurposing and redistribution of lost food to find viable and sustainable solutions to the food and environmental challenges of today.
- UNEP food waste index report 2021
United Nations Environment Programme, 2021.
This report presents comprehensive food waste data collection, analysis and modelling to date. It generates a new estimate of global food waste and publishes a methodology for countries to measure food waste - at household, food service and retail level - to track national progress towards 2030 and to report on Sustainable Development Goal 12.3.