Food Waste Transitions: Consumption, Retail and Collaboration towards a Sustainable Food System

Food waste poses a significant challenge to the sustainability of
food systems. In addition to the environmental and economic
impacts of the food we waste, there are significant social costs
that need to be addressed as a matter of urgency. The burden of
responsibility for making the necessary changes is often placed
on households and consumers. However, successful responses
require collaboration across the supply chain. This must-read
report shows that consumption matters, but highlights its
relationships with the component parts of the food chain and the
organisation of societies more generally. It acknowledges that
the United Kingdom is leading the way in collaboration for waste
reduction and notes that retailers are starting to take their
responsibilities seriously. The authors identify the conditions that
have enabled this to happen in relation to food waste and ask
how these might inform thinking about the wider issue of a
transition towards a sustainable food system.
Baroness Scott of Needham Market