Abstract
In order to meet global goals of reducing food waste, feasible monitoring methods to verify the impact of reduction measures are needed. In this study, a method was developed for gathering food waste data related to the primary production of fruit and vegetables using a questionnaire for farmers. A data collection form was planned and tested for this purpose. Data was collected on the volumes of different uses of yields and the reasons why part of the yield does not end up in food use. The crop species that were included in this pilot study were food potatoes, carrots, white cabbage, and strawberries. In primary production, the share of food use of the total yield was highest for potatoes (96%) and lowest for carrots (72%). In the case of strawberries and white cabbage, 86% and 90% were used as food, respectively. In the future, it is recommended that this kind of survey be added to annual crop production surveys that cover agricultural and horticultural enterprises in Finland. To improve the response rate and decrease the reporting load of farmers, it is important that the questionnaire is designed to be as easy as possible to answer.
Highlights
It has been estimated that up to one third of the food produced for human consumption is lost or wasted globally (Gustavsson et al 2011), meaning that the resources used for this food production are lost
By combining the data on the uses of harvested yield and the share of unharvested yield, the total side flows not used for food were calculated
The share of food use of the total yield was highest for potatoes (96%) and lowest for carrots (72%) (Table 3)
Summary
It has been estimated that up to one third of the food produced for human consumption is lost or wasted globally (Gustavsson et al 2011), meaning that the resources used for this food production are lost. The United Nations (UN) has set a sustainable development goal that aims to halve global food waste at the retail and consumer levels and reduce food losses in production and supply chains by 2030 (UN 2016). This goal is supported by the European Commission (EU 2015). Food loss and waste in the primary production of potatoes, vegetables, and fruit have been quantified in several studies in several European countries, namely, the UK: Environ Sci Pollut Res (2021) 28:24618–24627
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