Abstract
Food waste and obesity and overweight conditions are both linked to the unsustainability of current food systems. This article argues that overnutrition should be considered a form of food waste and it provides a first estimation of the quantity of food over-consumed in Italy. This is done by calculating the excess calories consumed by obese and overweight people and converting them into food quantities by comparison with a typical Italian diet. The total quantity of food consumed in excess by Italian citizens due to overnutrition is calculated as 1.553 million tonnes per year, which is comparable to the current national household food waste assessments. The environmental impact arising from production and consumption of this food accounts for 6.15 Mt of CO2-eq per year, as estimated by a Life Cycle Analysis conducted on the 46 food categories which compose the typical Italian diet. Overnutrition in the South-Islands regions of Italy exerts the largest impact (31.6%), followed by the North-West (26.6%), the Centre (22.2%), and the North-East (19.1%).
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
