Global food waste amounts to 1.6 billion tons per year, costing developing and developed countries about $2.6 trillion annually — the equivalent of India’s GDP (Gross Domestic Product) in 2017. In developed countries like the United States, forty percent of the waste is caused by consumers, and perhaps not surprising, it is the consumer who is blamed for the waste. However, with less than half of food waste generated by consumers, where does the other sixty percent of food waste come from?

 The answer: supply chains, or the network of corporate actors involved in the production and distribution of food. Supply chains are responsible for the majority of food waste.  In fact, most food is wasted before it even reaches consumers. 

 The biggest cause of food waste is overproduction. According to Marie Mourad, a sociologist and zero food waste specialist, the most sustainable and effective solution is to limit the amount of food we produce in the first place. In one of the many interviews Mourad conducted for her 2016 study, she and a member of the French Ministry of Agriculture discussed overproduction in the food industry. Regarding producers and union representatives, the cabinet member stated, “If I talked about [overproduction], they would just stand up from their chairs and leave.” Industry leaders and producers just don’t want the current system to change. They profit from business as usual operations. So, if the producers are not interested in changing our food system, what other ways are they trying to combat food waste?  

You’ve probably heard the phrase “Reduce. Reuse. Recycle.” Historically, the concept of the three R’s, taken up by governments, industries, non-profits, and educators, has encouraged consumers to play their part in reducing their impact on the environment. Scholars and industry professionals refer to this concept as the waste management hierarchy. Right now, it is being utilized by food waste specialists as a way to mitigate global food waste.

 As the waste management hierarchy indicates, there are a few routes we can take to curb our food waste: prevention, recovery, and recycling. Mourad, the zero food waste specialist, describes two types of prevention: “weak” and “strong”. “Weak” prevention is defined as improving technologies and increasing the efficiency of the system. Legislative focus on labelling for perishable foods is an example of “weak” prevention. Current efforts include promotion of awareness and consistency for expiration and sell-by dates stated on packaging. In addition to “weak” preventative approaches, producers and distributors have implemented what Mourad considers to be less than optimal strategies, including food recovery programs and recycling. However, these programs don’t consider the bigger issue: that we may need to restructure the global food system as a whole and limit production.

Unlike “weak” prevention, “strong” prevention would essentially limit the amount of food we  produce globally, thereby restricting overconsumption and overproduction. An example of “strong” prevention would entail shifting away from industrial agriculture and embracing more local forms of agricultural production and trade. This type of prevention promotes seasonality and variability. This means that the supply chain and consumers would only have access to a specific product when it was in season. Mourad’s study, in the Journal of Cleaner Production, indicated that such solutions can help actors along the supply chain achieve sustainable production and consumption in the long-term.

“Strong” prevention would essentially have a trickle-down effect leading to less choice and availability of food for consumers  – and therefore overall consumption would decrease, and consumer-generated food waste would decrease along with it. Not surprisingly, the “strong” prevention solution to food waste receives the least amount of attention from governments and industry professionals because it would require an enormous change to our current food system. 

“Strong” prevention solutions are the only way to effectively and sustainably reduce food waste addressing both producers and consumers. So, it’s time for the actors along the supply chain to take responsibility and put strong prevention strategies into action.