Role of the Food Supply Chain Stakeholders in Achieving UN SDGs

From Industrial Food Waste to Bioactive Ingredients: A Review on the Sustainable Management and Transformation of Plant-Derived Food Waste

According to the United Nations, approximately one-third of the food produced for human consumption is wasted. The actual linear "Take-Make-Dispose" model is nowadays obsolete and uneconomical for societies and the environment, while circular thinking in production systems and its effective adoption offers new opportunities and benefits. Following the "Waste Framework Directive" (2008/98/CE), the European Green Deal, and the actual Circular Economy Action Plan, when prevention is not possible, recovering an unavoidable food waste as a by-product represents a most promising pathway. Using last year's by-products, which are rich in nutrients and bioactive compounds, such as dietary fiber, polyphenols, and peptides, offer a wake-up call to the nutraceutical and cosmetic industry to invest and develop value-added products generated from food waste ingredients.

Life cycle cost analysis of agri-food products: A systematic review

Because of the increasing challenges the global food system is facing on a social, economic and environmental level, and the need to meet the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030, agri-food systems are increasingly required to become more sustainable. Life cycle tools, such as a life cycle assessment (LCA) and life cycle cost analysis (LCC) to evaluate the environmental and economic performance respectively, play an important role in sustainability research. Contrary to LCA, the LCC methodology is not standardized for agri-food products. This study aims to obtain insights into the use of LCC in the agri-food sector using a systematic review approach. Data related to the methodology and findings of life cycle cost analyses of agri-food products were extracted from 92 articles, covering a wide range of products (crops: 59, food/drinks: 22, other: 11) and purposes. Currently, there is no consensus about LCC type definitions and the definition of different types of system boundaries amongst researchers. Furthermore, these and other methodological choices are often not reported in the analyzed studies. The data collection itself can also differ across studies, especially with regards to the inclusion of different cost categories. It is important to include each cost category since all categories have been identified as a costs hotspot in our list of studies (inputs: 84 %, labor: 62 %, machinery: 27 %, other: 39 %). Standardizing the LCC methodology is recommended to ensure comparability and enhance the scientific impact of studies. Integrating LCC results with findings from other life cycle tools, as done in 29 studies, can further support decision-making. The most common methods for integrating results are eco-efficiency analysis and multi-criteria decision analysis methods. In conclusion, it is clear that LCC is a very valuable tool, as a method on its own or complemented by other life cycle tools.

An overview of the interactions between food production and climate change

This paper provides an overview of how food production influences climate change and also illustrates the impact of climate change on food production. To perform such an overview, the (inter)link between different parts of the food supply chain continuum (agriculture production, livestock farming, food processing, food transport and storing, retail food, and disposal of food waste) and climate change has been investigated through a bibliometric analysis. Besides UN Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 13, associated with climate change, other SDGs that are associated with this overview are goals #1, #2, #3, #6, #7, #12, and #15. Based on the evidence gathered, the paper provides some recommendations that may assist in efforts to reduce the climate-related impacts of food production.

Assessment of Environmental Impacts from Different Perspectives-Case Study of Egg Value Chain System in Serbia

The environmental performance of various aspects of animal origin food supply chains has been the focus of research in recent years, and has provided useful information. However, there were no studies that covered the entire egg supply chain from different perspectives. The aim of this study was to analyze the majority of environmental impacts in the table egg supply chain comprising of three subsystems: farms, retail outlets and households, with quantification of each individual subsystem and the entire supply chain. All data were gathered from 30 farms, 50 retail stores and 300 households in Serbia. In parallel, the perception and ranking of environmental impacts along the supply chain were also evaluated. Finally, the quality function deployment for the environment was used to determine the degree of correlation between the set of environmental requirements and the identified environmental impacts. Results revealed that the greatest environmental impacts come from the production of feed for laying hens and the use of natural resources, and they contribute the most to the pollution of each individual environmental indicator. Additionally, the results show the differences in the environmental impacts of each individual subsystem and identify opportunities to mitigate them through the optimization of animal feed, energy consumption and household food waste management. The overall perspective of the egg supply chain points to climate change effects as the most important. The differences in the perceptions of environmental impacts along the entire egg supply chain suggest the need for promotion of mitigation strategies to all stakeholders that would encourage them to achieve sustainable development goals.

Spatial modeling of soil erosion hazards and crop diversity change with rainfall variation in the Central Highlands of Sri Lanka

The spatial variation of soil erosion is essential for farming system management and resilience development, specifically in the high climate hazard vulnerable tropical countries like Sri Lanka. This study aimed to investigate climate and human-induced soil erosion through spatial modeling. Remote sensing was used for spatial modeling to detect soil erosion, crop diversity, and rainfall variation. The study employed a time-series analysis of several variables such as rainfall, land-use land-cover (LULC) and crop diversity to detect the spatial variability of soil erosion in farming systems. Rain-use efficiency (RUE) and residual trend analysis (RESTREND) combined with a regression approach were applied to partition the soil erosion due to human and climate-induced land degradation. Results showed that soil erosion has increased from 9.08 Mg/ha/yr to 11.08 Mg/ha/yr from 2000 to 2019 in the Central Highlands of Sri Lanka. The average annual rainfall has increased in the western part of the Central Highlands, and soil erosion hazards such as landslides incidence also increased during this period. However, crop diversity has been decreasing in farming systems, namely wet zone low country (WL1a) and wet zone mid-country (WM1a), in the western part of the Central Highlands. The RUE and RESTREND analyses reveal climate-induced soil erosion is responsible for land degradation in these farming systems and is a threat to sustainable food production in the farming systems of the Central Highlands.

A Food-Circular Economy-Women Nexus: Lessons from Guelph-Wellington

Resource nexus approaches have been expanding to include additional sectors beyond standard water, energy, and food approaches. Opportunities exist by re-imagining the resource nexus approach with the framework of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Emerging research and policy themes, such as the circular economy and gender, can provide additional context to traditional nexus arrangements. To illustrate this, we analyze SDG implementation and interaction from 40 unstructured interviews from SMEs participating in Guelph-Wellington’s Seeding Our Food Future (SOFF) program, part of the wider Our Food Future (OFF) initiative led by the City of Guelph and Wellington County in Ontario, Canada. Results show that 16/17 SDGs and associated targets were present on the program. Environmental SDGs were implemented the most, followed by social and economic ones. SDGs 2, 12, and 5 had the most general implementation and direct paired interactions and were associated with the broadest number of SDGs across the project. These findings support the existence of a Food-Circular Economy-Women nexus in Guelph-Wellington’s agri-food sector. Further analysis shows that this nexus is most active in agriculture, and that women are responsible for introducing a social aspect, which addresses food security. Results can inform food system and circular economy researchers and practitioners.