Food Loss and Waste as an Economic and Policy Problem

Abstract

Many international organisations, including the European Parliament, see reducing food loss and waste as a priority. They argue that this will increase the efficiency of resource use and have beneficial environmental effects. This paper asserts that the scale of the problem has been overstated and that many of the proposed policy solutions are unlikely to achieve the desired results. Indeed, attempts to reduce food loss and waste may ultimately decrease the efficiency of resource use.