An invisible problem: the current situation

You’ve already explored some of the reasons why food loss happens but how can we calculate the scale of the loss? In this article, you’ll learn that food loss is often an invisible problem.

You learned in Step 1.2 that losses occurring before or during harvest are not included in the EU definitions of ‘food’ or ‘food waste’. This means these losses are often unreported and unacknowledged making it difficult to take action to address the issue. In order to do something about food loss we first need to better understand where these losses occur. But there are challenges to estimating and measuring loss.

To overcome the challenges, we need to think about:

• Why measure. The motivations for measuring food loss.
• What to measure. Agreeing what constitutes food loss.
• When to measure. Recognising when and how often to measure food loss.
• How to measure. Finding practical and appropriate ways to measure food loss.

Why measure

Food loss has economic and environmental consequences, so there’s a clear business case to identify opportunities for reduction. ‘What cannot be measured cannot be managed’ is a popular saying, and the natural first step to reducing food loss is to identify where – and how much – food loss occurs. It’s also helpful to think about why data are needed. Will they inform farm-level decisions? Or will they shape policy and decision-making at the national or regional level? Knowing the answers to these questions will help us chose the most appropriate food loss estimation and measurement methods.

What to measure

Let’s return to the FOLOU food loss definition to look for clues. The definition states

“Food loss is any harvest mature plant, animal or living being (including inedible parts)…”

• Fruit and vegetables
• Grains and pulses
• Roots, tubers and oil crops
• Meat and dairy
• Aquaculture and fisheries

When to measure

“…that is not successfully harvested, as well as food removed from the supply chain during the post-harvest phase that does not become animal feed, by-product or food waste”

This means food loss can occur

…after produce reaches maturity and before harvest	…after produce reaches maturity and during harvest	…after harvest and before leaving the farm gate (selected destinations only)

Figure 1: Where food loss can occur in primary production ©Richard Casebow

Examples of maturity include when an animal reaches its slaughter weight, when a crop is ready to be harvested or when an egg is laid.

Many crops (for example barley, wheat and beans) are harvested annually. Other products, for instance milk or eggs, are ‘harvested’ daily, although the amounts produced may vary over the course of year.

How to measure

There are a range of methods to estimate and measure food loss. These range from the straightforward to the complex. We need to be mindful to balance the quality and quantity of data with the practicalities of collecting data in the first place. Some of these considerations are highlighted in Figure 2 below.

Figure 2: Balancing data needs and practicalities ©Adapted from Caldeira, C, Corrado, S, & Sala, S (2017) Food waste accounting. Methodologies, challenges and opportunities. Publications Office of the European Union, Luxembourg.

In practice, a helpful first step is to consider the most significant areas of food loss. Significance could be defined in relation to the largest quantities, the biggest financial losses or the areas we are most able to control. Examples of how we can do this include:

• Direct measurement
• Scanning or counting
• Material composition analysis
• Diaries
• Mass balance
• Questionnaires and interviews

You’ll explore measurement methods in more detail later in the course.

Resources

• Caldeira, C, Corrado, S, & Sala, S (2017) Food waste accounting. Methodologies, challenges and opportunities. Publications Office of the European Union, Luxembourg.
• CEC. (2021) Why and How to Measure Food Loss and Waste: A Practical Guide – Version 2.0. Montreal, Canada: Commission for Environmental Cooperation.
• FOLOU 1st Meeting (2024) Defining Food Loss in the European Union Framework – Challenges and Significance
• FOLOU 2nd Meeting (2024) Navigating Reliable Diagnoses for Measuring Food Losses in the Primary Sector of the Supply Chain.