Food Waste and Composting

Producing food industrially like we do today causes tremendous global economic losses in terms of malnutrition, diseases, and environmental degradation. But because the food industry does not bear those costs and the price tag for these losses does not show up at the grocery store, it is too often ignored by economists and policymakers. The Economics of Sustainable Food details the true cost of food for people and the planet. It illustrates how to transform our broken system, alleviating its severe financial and human burden. The key is smart macroeconomic policy that moves us toward methods that protect the environment like regenerative land and sea farming, low-impact urban farming, and alternative protein farming, and toward healthy diets. The book's multidisciplinary team of authors lay out detailed fiscal and trade policies, as well as structural reforms, to achieve those goals. Chapters discuss strategies to make food production sustainable, nutritious, and fair, ranging from taxes and spending to education, labor market, health care, and pension reforms, alongside regulation in cases where market incentives are unlikely to work or to work fast enough. The authors carefully consider the different needs of more and less advanced economies, balancing economic development and sustainability goals. Case studies showcase successful strategies from around the world, such as taxing foods with a high carbon footprint, financing ecosystems mapping and conservation to meet scientific targets for healthy biomes permanency, subsidizing sustainable land and sea farming, reforming health systems to move away from sick care to preventive, nutrition-based care, and providing schools with matching funds to purchase local organic produce. In the years ahead, few issues will be more important for individual prosperity and the global economy than the way we produce our food and what food we eat. This roadmap for reform is an invaluable resource to help global policymakers improve countless lives.

The magnitude of the food-waste disposal problem cannot be understated. Utilisation of food waste is of concern to the food processing industry, consumers, environmentalists, and regulators of handling and disposal systems. Food waste is not consistent in quality, is usually high in moisture content, and is only available locally. This book focuses on the challenges of utilising both wet and/or processed food waste. The regulatory environment relating to food waste, the perspective of the end-users, and practical use as animal feed is also discussed. One of the goals of this publication, other than to give a clear explanation of the subject of food waste and its uses as animal feed, is to stimulate a need for research.

Learn how to reduce food waste with quick tips and simple solutions in My Zero-waste Kitchen. Live sustainably and embrace the three R's: reduce, reuse, and recycle. In My Zero-waste Kitchen, find creative and unexpected ways to eliminate trash, save money, and give leftovers a new life. Plus, learn how to grow your own vegetables and herbs from scraps, and how to nourish your plants with compost. With 15 nutritious and versatile recipes in which nothing goes to waste, this guide shares the secrets to smart shopping, meal planning, and the nutritional value of often-discarded food products. Turn beetroot peelings into delicious falafel, pesto, or a melt-in-your-mouth cake. Revive produce nearing the end of its shelf life with "flexi" recipes--for risotto, stir-fry, smoothies, and more. The tips and tricks in My Zero-waste Kitchen show how easy it is to live more sustainably without making a complete lifestyle change.

Global food insecurity is a growing issue. At a time when the world's population is increasing and agricultural production is challenged by climate change, it is estimated that around a third of the food produced globally is lost or wasted. This book examines the problem of food loss and waste (FLW) and the policies that could be enacted to remedy this fundamental global concern. Michael Blakeney provides a well-rounded view of FLW from production to plate. He begins by examining the problems associated with defining and measuring food waste, arguing that more reliable data on FLW is key to the creation of effective FLW reduction policies. He goes on to address the drivers of FLW, the environmental impacts of FLW and the moral and ethical considerations that are linked to the issue. Food Loss and Waste concludes with a critical assessment of FLW reduction strategies across the food supply chain. Providing the first comprehensive assessment of FLW and its remedies, this book will be of great interest to scholars working in the fields of food security, agricultural law and policy and rural economics. Policy makers involved in food policy and security will also find this a valuable resource as it identifies and analyses FLW policies on an international scale.