Surplus food redistribution can be a way to relieve co-existing food insecurity and food waste. The food waste hierarchy ranks surplus food donations for human consumption as the next best strategy, when food waste cannot be prevented. However, the effectiveness of food donation in terms of the amount consumed, or food donation as a food waste management measure have rarely been assessed. The few studies conducted to date report substantial environmental savings, but the results may be sensitive to assumptions regarding substituted food. Rebound effects are also not included, but are likely to offset environmental savings from food donation. Therefore, this study investigated the effectiveness, carbon footprint, and rebound effect of a food donation system run by a charity in Sweden, and compared the results with those of anaerobic digestion. Multiple analytical methods were used, including material flow analysis, life cycle assessment, questionnaire, and 24-hour dietary recall. In the life cycle assessment, carbon footprint of substituted products were credited to the overall results using a system expansion. In addition, direct and indirect rebound effects associated with re-spending of substitution-related monetary savings were included. The results revealed a complex but effective network aimed at salvaging as much of the redistributed food as possible, with 78% of redistributed food eaten, but there was also a substantial rebound effect, offsetting 51% of potential carbon emissions savings from food donation. Nonetheless, the net result of food donation was almost twice the climate benefit of anaerobic digestion (-0.40 vs. -0.22 kg CO2e/FU), supporting the food waste hierarchy. 

Surplus food donation: Effectiveness, carbon footprint, and rebound effect

Food waste is a problem that needs to be addressed to achieve sustainable development. There is a need for interventions that can reduce food waste, including in organisations already aware of the food waste problem. Swedish school canteens have experience of food waste reduction, but need tools to achieve further reductions. This study tested four interventions (tasting spoons, awareness campaign, a plate waste tracker and a guest forecasting tool) designed to reduce food waste in school canteens. Each intervention was introduced in two school canteens, while seven school canteens acted as a reference group. The interventions were compared with baseline food waste before the intervention and with the reference group. All interventions reduced total food waste (by 6 to 44 g/guest) compared with the baseline, but the reference group also reduced its food waste. The awareness campaign reduced plate waste most, by 13 g per portion, which was 6 g/portion more than the plate waste reduction in the reference group. The forecasting and plate waste tracker interventions reduced serving waste most, by 34 and 38 g/portion, compared with 11 g/portion in the reference group. Some interventions also had an effect on waste fractions they were not designed to target, affecting the total waste by shifting the waste. Interventions should always be seen in a context and be implemented in combinations that increase overall sustainability. Thus forecasting is an effective way to reduce serving waste, plate waste tracker and awareness campaign are effective tools to reduce plate waste in school canteens. 

Testing interventions to reduce food waste in school catering

Food waste is a problem that needs to be addressed to achieve sustainable development. There is a need for interventions that can reduce food waste, including in organisations already aware of the food waste problem. Swedish school canteens have experience of food waste reduction, but need tools to achieve further reductions. This study tested four interventions (tasting spoons, awareness campaign, a plate waste tracker and a guest forecasting tool) designed to reduce food waste in school canteens. Each intervention was introduced in two school canteens, while seven school canteens acted as a reference group. The interventions were compared with baseline food waste before the intervention and with the reference group. All interventions reduced total food waste (by 6 to 44 g/guest) compared with the baseline, but the reference group also reduced its food waste. The awareness campaign reduced plate waste most, by 13 g per portion, which was 6 g/portion more than the plate waste reduction in the reference group. The forecasting and plate waste tracker interventions reduced serving waste most, by 34 and 38 g/portion, compared with 11 g/portion in the reference group. Some interventions also had an effect on waste fractions they were not designed to target, affecting the total waste by shifting the waste. Interventions should always be seen in a context and be implemented in combinations that increase overall sustainability. Thus forecasting is an effective way to reduce serving waste, plate waste tracker and awareness campaign are effective tools to reduce plate waste in school canteens.

Public food service organizations are large producers of food waste, which leads to greenhouse gas emissions and the waste of natural resources. The aim of the present article was to gain insight into reasons for food waste and possible solutions for lowering food waste in schools in Sweden. In order to do so, food waste quantification in school canteens in two Swedish municipalities and nine qualitative interviews with key actors were conducted. Both municipalities displayed a high degree of variation in food waste, but the common pattern was that serving waste constituted the largest fraction of food waste, followed by plate waste and storage waste, as well as a gradual decrease in food waste over time. Food waste was mainly a result of old, disadvantageous habits, such as overproduction due to forecasting difficulties, whereas new, better routines such as serving fewer options, better planning, and a less stressful environment are the key to lowering food waste. Because food waste varies from one case to the next, it becomes important to identify and measure the causes of food waste in each school in order to be able to establish tailor-made, conscious, and flexible food waste mitigation routines.

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From Old Habits to New Routines—A Case Study of Food Waste Generation and Reduction in Four Swedish Schools

The 260 million publicly funded school meals served annually in Sweden generate 21.000 tons of food waste. At national level, school meals should meet the goal of food waste reduction, together with various other goals such as meeting nutritional requirements, being environmentally friendly and, most importantly, achieving high acceptance among schoolchildren. There is a preconception among kitchen staff that the most popular school meals drive food waste in Swedish school catering and that vegetarian dishes increase food waste, despite being less popular than meat options. By applying mixed methods, this study investigated possible goal conflicts between reduced food waste, high acceptance, and vegetarian options on the lunch menu. An overall aim was to gain knowledge on how lunch menus could be adapted for increased sustainability. Kitchen staff from 10 Swedish primary and secondary schools were interviewed to identify the most popular and unpopular meals, and food waste quantification data and lunch menus from 61 school canteens were analyzed. The results showed that, while the common perception of popular and vegetarian meals creating most waste was held by kitchen staff, it proved to be untrue. In fact, popular school meals and vegetarian options generated less waste than unpopular meals. A vegetarian paradox was detected in interviews, with vegetarian options considered unpopular but with several vegetarian options among the most popular dishes. Thus, school-catering units should stop serving unpopular meals and shift their focus to serving popular nutritious meals, including popular plant-based options, as part of efforts to make school meal schemes more sustainable. 

Investigating goal conflicts in menu planning in Swedish school catering on the pathway to sustainable development

The environmental impacts of food systems and the health consequences of excess food intake are well-acknowledged global issues. However, the climate impact of excess food intake, or metabolic food waste, has received less attention. This study estimated the amount of metabolic food waste and its climate impact in Sweden. Excess food intake was estimated based on the adult overweight and obesity prevalence in Sweden, by applying two alternative calculation methods, one based on the energy content of excess body fat, and the other based on the excess energy intake due to excess body fat. These caloric values were translated to food consumption patterns according to three dietary scenarios and their climate impact estimated based on carbon footprint data. The results showed that the annual amount of metabolic food waste represented 480–710 kt of food in Sweden and, regardless of dietary scenario, exceeded the annual amount of avoidable household food waste. The estimated greenhouse gas emissions from the metabolic food waste amounted up to 1.2 Mt CO2e annually, accounting for approximately 2% of the total and 10% of the food-related climate impact in Sweden. This study confirms the magnitude of the hidden climate cost of excess food intake on a national level and emphasizes the importance of taking this aspect into consideration in actions to improve both planetary and human health. Although applied to the Swedish context, the methodology used in the present study could also be used to assess the environmental impact of excess food intake in other countries globally.

Niina Sundin

Papers

The climate impact of excess food intake - An avoidable environmental burden

Surplus food donation: Effectiveness, carbon footprint, and rebound effect

Testing interventions to reduce food waste in school catering

From Old Habits to New Routines—A Case Study of Food Waste Generation and Reduction in Four Swedish Schools

Investigating goal conflicts in menu planning in Swedish school catering on the pathway to sustainable development