Rerouting Food Waste for Climate Change Adaptation: The Paths of Research

Abstract

In a context of climate change where, on the one hand, large amounts of food are lost or wasted and on the other hand climate refugees are victims of food insecurity, there has been a growing interest in food waste and in research into reducing food loss. In order to identify research trends and gaps in this area, we have conducted a systematic review in this field adopting a methodology based on the use of selected key words and temporal boundaries from 2008 to 2021. The results extracted were divided in two categories: raw material and food security. The results are discussed under the following perspectives: geographic distribution of author’s institution, subject categories, and author keywords. Based on research topics found and researchers’ suggestions, actual and predictable trends on food waste management were identified for food waste as a raw material and for food security. It is found that Food Loss and Waste (FLW) fields of research interest have been: (1) food waste as a source of raw materials to produce biofuels and biomaterials; and (2) food waste upcycling for human consumption as a solution to food insecurity.