Abstract
This paper focuses on the contribution of an upcycling food organization to a balanced diet, which rescues and redistributes fresh or freshly cooked food to low-income households. To determine the nutritional balance of food hampers provided by our case study organization, according to the Portuguese food guidelines, we have weighed all items of food hampers in three weighing rounds over a period of four months. The results suggest that upcycled foods can contribute to a more balanced diet in terms of “Potato, Cereal and Cereal Products”, “Vegetables”, “Meat, Fish, Seafood and Eggs” and “Fruits”, both according to the Portuguese Food Wheel and compared to that of the general Portuguese population. The novelty of this study is the evaluation of the contribution to the balanced diet of the population in a vulnerable situation, of perishable foods such as freshly cooked, in traditional restaurants, cafes, bakeries, and hotels, or is naturally fresh (fruit and vegetables food aid services) up-cycled by a food aid organization.
Highlights
Tania Suely Azevedo Brasileiro andAt a time when the world continues to use natural resources unsustainably, food recovery and redistribution activities offer the opportunity to build a more sustainable future
The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released, on its official website, a food recovery hierarchy (Figure 1), prioritizing actions to prevent and divert food waste. This scheme is designed in an inverted triangular shape divided in levels, where the top option corresponds to food waste prevention and the second-best option, called “Feed Hungry People”, amounts to donating food surpluses to food banks, kitchens, and shelters
While other researchers have found that supplemental foods offered at food pantries are an important resource to improve the quality of food intake to populations in vulnerable situations (SDG 2.1), this is the first study in which there is food quantification of almost exclusively rescued fresh or freshly cooked products
Summary
At a time when the world continues to use natural resources unsustainably, food recovery and redistribution activities offer the opportunity to build a more sustainable future. Food redistribution initiatives are aimed at addressing both food insecurity and food waste. The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released, on its official website, a food recovery hierarchy (Figure 1), prioritizing actions to prevent and divert food waste. This scheme is designed in an inverted triangular shape divided in levels, where the top option corresponds to food waste prevention and the second-best option, called “Feed Hungry People”, amounts to donating food surpluses to food banks, kitchens, and shelters. Being a less environmentally favorable way of up-cycling food, whether for low-income populations or not [3,4,5], it is referred to in the fourth level of food hierarchy as “Industrial Uses”
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