Many years in the past nobody was talking about food waste as a relevant matter, nevertheless, sudden events throughout the last decades have exposed how finite our resources are. Industrialization meant an abrupt hasten in production methods and how we consume goods from many industries, this led people to quickly move from understanding the value of what is available, to simply taking goods for granted as their prices dropped substantially (Boehlje 1996). Evans et al (2012) discuss the historical transition from the invisibility to the visibility of food waste as a human priority referring to how overlooked the problem was, compared to the high awareness we face nowadays. He also describes how the transition went so unseen that it found humankind without enough studies, systems, and tools to turn the situation around. But what made people suddenly care about food waste if it has been there before?

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The global food crisis in 2008 exposed serious vulnerabilities in the food system, spreading insecurity and social discontent among the population whose lifestyles were more affected (Rosin et al 2010). Among the reasons that ignited the global crisis included: population growth, which increased the food demand (Singh 2009); Climate change, which slowed production due to extreme weather; oil price rise, which made it difficult to transport goods (Headey and Fan 2010); and finally, the lack of preparation to a food shortage. Consequently, in 2008 food prices skyrocketed making the problem noticeable to people who did not understand the demand until it affected them beyond a couple of dollars. This awareness allowed people to understand that high prices of food reflected how difficult it was to sort their daily products. Even big producer countries such as India had to limit or temporarily ban their exportations to avoid food shortage (Valera et al 2024), prioritizing having food over getting money for it.

 

Another trigger for awareness about food waste includes the growing activism that due to the virality of the current media, has exponentially reached a wider public. Activism is not something new, nevertheless, its reach has increased xxx just in the last decade. Evans et al (2012) highlighted authors such as Tristram Stuart and Jonathan Bloom, whose books raised awareness and influenced multiple movements and activist practices. However, new technologies not only allowed trends and movements to reach many people but have also worked as a platform to conglomerate activist communities and take action.

 

Food Waste in Australia: The Freegan Response 

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Boejhe (1996) discusses how because of the long negligence of society regarding the inevitable food shortage, people became spoiled as they could decide what they wanted and how they wanted it, and then supply chains would produce them. This, other than encouraging chemical intervention of food, is also one of the reasons why so many food is discarded every day. As a response to the now visible problem, society has adopted different postures and people have opted for new habits. This case study by Edwards and Mercer (2012) discusses Dumpster Diving and Freeganism, two practices inspired by an ethical lifestyle of caring for the environment and a sense of community and cooperation with the neighbor. As its name indicates, Dumpster Diving consists of getting into the bins (usually, ideally from food chains and big stores) and locating the products they have discarded due to their appearance or caducity date; freeganism, encloses a bigger lifestyle regarding the consumption and distribution of these products with community. These practices in some ways are considered a protest against the big chains and reevaluate the way consumerism and distribution of goods is carried out. Additionally, Freeganism and Dumpster Diving have grown as a trend and have built certain “etiquette” in the way is practiced, this way they keep a clean image of the protest, facilitate its continuous practice by eluding unnecessary attention, and once again, respect the person next to you.

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One of the main issues with these practices is the informality of the fetching methods that could be, in a way, proposed as a formal solution to the industries wasting these goods. To a certain extent, these practices could be considered a public health matter as well, once again, due to the informality of the recollection methods. Additionally, as mentioned before, due to the sensitive nature of the practice, it could not be considered sustainable (Eduards 2023).

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The research presented by Edwards and Mercer (2012) consisted of a qualitative method, composed of ethnographic immersive fieldwork; Interviews with people belonging to the freegan movement; Case studies such as Food not Bombs; Comparative analysis, and literature review.

 

Missing Food, Missing Data? A Critical Review of Global Food Losses and Food Waste Data

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Given the increasing awareness regarding food waste, many countries and entities are making great efforts to regulate and significantly reduce the amount of food wasted. As a consequence, as part of the global political agenda food waste is now in the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. The target aims to reduce food waste percentage by half and implement effective measures across production and supply chains by 2030. To achieve these goals is important to receive accurate information provided by the countries and their industries. Successfully tracking Food waste and food loss is a requisite to analyze the environmental impacts and develop successful and meaningful strategies.

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The study research was fuelled by 202 relevant publications, gathered data from 84 countries, and covered a gap of 52 years from 1933 to 2014. The authors focused the research on a few industrialized countries, mainly the United States and the United Kingdom. This limited the research as it left aside the opportunity to include potential information from developing countries and emerging economies, essential for a deeper understanding of the food waste/food loss panorama.

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Apart from the decision to support the research mainly on industrialized countries, another limitation was that over half of the publications selected relied on secondary data, meaning that to a certain extent the accuracy of the research could be questioned. On the one hand, these data limitations made it challenging to provide a definitive conclusion without facing uncertainties. On the other hand, the lack of information and the inconsistencies in some pieces of information provided insights to the authors on how to further explore the problem, and what data is missing to provide meaningful solutions. Overall, the “unsuccessful” framing of the problem was successful in pointing out where to tackle further research and concluded the lack of information as part of the food waste problem.

 

To conclude, even though the different publications regarding food waste concluded in numerous ineffective or inefficient solutions or a lack of knowledge on the topic, it still points out that there is room for improvement, and opportunities to keep designing. The different authors explored the topic and found mainly challenges to attack the root of the problem but allowed me to understand that society is now open to hearing solutions as reaching those people is more plausible these days. Additionally, even though the solutions might not finish the problem to its totality, there is still room for partial solutions that could make a slightly more sustainable planet. Two key points to approach, are the need to refine freegan solutions, and the opportunity to gather data that makes activism an efficient and sustainable tool, and not just a matter of community and respect.