Summary: D-Ns role in Food Waste (2025 Jul)

Summary of key points in this cluster:
– Zero Waste is achievable: Nature never wastes. All byproducts feed something else. Waste is only waste if we waste. Thoughtful innovation, design, and behaviours are key to our success. – Wasted food is harming our earth, and people adapted from the FAO International Day of Awareness of Food Loss and Waste: • 31% of our food is wasted. • 14% of the world’s food is lost after harvest, up to, but not including, the retail stage of the supply chain. • 17% is wasted in retail and at the consumption level. • This food loss and waste account for 8 -10 per cent of the total global greenhouse gases, contributing to an unstable climate and extreme weather events such as droughts and flooding. These changes negatively impact crop yields, reduce the nutritional quality of crops, cause supply chain disruptions, and threaten food security and nutrition. – Dietitians-Nutritionists are influential and valuable! While not solely responsible for environmental sustainability initiatives, Dietitians-Nutritionists have a strong influence over food services, and food in the institutions is a strong driver of environmental impacts. Dietitians-Nutritionists should be at the table, collaborating with relevant colleagues to support this effort. • See the NDA SFS Toolkit grants on reducing food waste developed by South Africa and Sri Lanka. – Practical Tips for Using Food Wisely: • First in, First out – store & use food correctly from the pantry, freezer, and fridge • Plan your meals, involve the whole family, and make a shopping list together • Be creative with any leftovers – eat them as part of the next meal or snack, or transform them into something new. • Share your solutions and discuss your struggles with relevant groups you are part of (schools, religions, community, etc.)

Summary of key points in this cluster:

– Zero Waste is achievable:
Nature never wastes. All byproducts feed something else. Waste is only waste if we waste. Thoughtful innovation, design, and behaviours are key to our success.

– Wasted food is harming our earth, and people
adapted from the FAO International Day of Awareness of Food Loss and Waste:
• 31% of our food is wasted.
• 14% of the world’s food is lost after harvest, up to, but not including, the retail stage of the supply chain.
• 17% is wasted in retail and at the consumption level.
• This food loss and waste account for 8 -10 per cent of the total global greenhouse gases, contributing to an unstable climate and extreme weather events such as droughts and flooding. These changes negatively impact crop yields, reduce the nutritional quality of crops, cause supply chain disruptions, and threaten food security and nutrition.

– Dietitians-Nutritionists are influential and valuable!
While not solely responsible for environmental sustainability initiatives, Dietitians-Nutritionists have a strong influence over food services, and food in the institutions is a strong driver of environmental impacts. Dietitians-Nutritionists should be at the table, collaborating with relevant colleagues to support this effort.
• See the NDA SFS Toolkit grants on reducing food waste developed by South Africa and Sri Lanka.

– Practical Tips for Using Food Wisely:
• First in, First out – store & use food correctly from the pantry, freezer, and fridge
• Plan your meals, involve the whole family, and make a shopping list together
• Be creative with any leftovers – eat them as part of the next meal or snack, or transform them into something new.
• Share your solutions and discuss your struggles with relevant groups you are part of (schools, religions, community, etc.)

Resources in the ICDA SFS Toolkit:

Case study:

SecondBite was created in 2005 in Australia and shows how the hard work and determination of just two individuals can lead to a decrease in hunger and food waste and an indirect increase in food security for thousands of people by saving nutritious food from entering the landfill, and instead, entering the homes of many people who need it.

Addressing Food Waste at University College Dublin, Ireland (2023 Sep) – A team at University College Dublin (UCD) aimed to capture a snapshot of food waste within the campus food system. Two students undertook this as their final year project for the BSc in Human Nutrition at UCD, and two students were working as work placement interns with the clinical nutrition and dietetics team at the School of Public Health, Physiotherapy & Sports Science.

Reducing Food Waste with Recovering Drug Addicts in Germany (2025) – an innovative approach to reducing food waste utilizing “imperfect” produce that distributors cannot sell due to stringent European food laws. The initiative not only addresses the issue of food waste but also provides valuable support for recovering drug addicts. By transforming these fruits and vegetables into products like jams and chutneys, this program aims to benefit both the community and public health, turning potential waste into opportunities for nourishment and recovery.

Research:

Factors influencing implementation of food and food-related waste audits in hospital food services (2022) – The consensus tool can be used to support hospital food services to complete food and food-related waste audits, although it may need to be customised to be fit for purpose. Optimising the capacity, change management and processes, governance, and leadership of the foodservice department may improve the experience and success of a food and food-related waste audit.

Food and food-related waste management strategies in hospital food services: A systematic review (2022) – This review summarises the waste management strategies used by hospitals worldwide that divert food and food-related waste from landfill, their outcomes, and position in the food recovery hierarchy to enable hospital food services to implement appropriate practice and policy changes to decrease their environmental footprint.

‘It’s a constantly changing environment, and we’re just playing catch up’: Hospital food services, food waste, and COVID-19 (2022 Jun) – The research wanted to understand the impacts of COVID-19 on hospital foodservice practices. Specifically, how COVID-19 impacted the completion of food waste audits and the generation of food waste in hospital foodservice.

A systematic review of food waste audit methods in hospital food services: development of a consensus pathway food waste audit tool (2022 Mar) – The present review aimed to collate reported methods and establish a preferred approach for conducting a waste audit in a hospital foodservice setting. Measure aggregate food and food-related waste in hospital food services regularly to generate baseline data, identify problem areas, and possibly demonstrate improvements in waste levels over time.

Environmental Sustainability of Hospital Food Services Across the Food Supply Chain: A systematic review (2020) – While not solely responsible for environmental sustainability initiatives, this evidence tells us that dietitians have a strong influence over hospital food services, and food in the hospital is a strong driver of environmental impacts. This means planning with the whole hospital food system in mind, to maximize benefits (e.g., co-benefits between decreased food waste, increased food and nutrient intake, recovery times, and decreased costs).

Reduce, Recover, Recycle—Food Waste in Prince George’s County, Maryland, USA (2019) This study describes Prince George’s County‘s problem of food waste and presents policy recommendations and strategies, supported by national promising practices, to reduce, recover, and recycle food waste in the County. It provides an excellent example of what you can do where you are, as well – either mimicking their study or using some of their ideas in your food council, or other group, or institution

Tools:

Swedish Dietitians Work to Reduce Food Waste (2020) – Swedish Dietitians produced a handbook in Swedish that explains food waste and includes how-to information for reduction and measurement. Coordinator thought: Could a volunteer translate this handbook so more of us can use it?

Tips to Reduce Foodwaste created by Nutrition Australia (2021) is a quick guide to reducing food waste at the consumer level through purchasing, storing, packaging, and preparation.

Reducing Food Waste Activity (2013) – To reduce food waste by planning flexible meals that use up things that would otherwise be composted.To communicate your menu choices and sustainability benefits to clients

See the NDA SFS Toolkit grants on reducing food waste developed by South Africa and Sri Lanka.

Webinars:

This is a series of recorded webinars organised by the European Federations of the Associations of Dietitians (EFAD) (2021-22) on Sustainable and Healthy Diets. Webinar 4 focuses on Dietitian-Nutritionists’ roles in food waste with three speakers. There is also a link to the EFAD’s Learning centre that has several webinars and courses on sustainability in nutrition.

Action Track #2: Shift to Sustainable Consumption Patterns with EAT (2021) – Solutions to shift to sustainably produced food, strengthen local value chains and improve nutrition (especially amongst the most vulnerable), and reuse and recycle food resources so that we can halve food waste.

Sustainable & Wellness Oriented Lifestyle Practices (2020) by Integrated Dietetics’ Dr. Ram Aditya and Mr. T Kumaresan via Facebook live discusses important sustainability topics including biodiversity and food waste, and includes tips on how to incorporate sustainable practices in everyday life.

Websites:

Reducing Food Waste – FoodPrint is a web-based resource that helps eaters understand what “it takes to get food from the farm to your plate.” FoodPrint tries to make it as easy as possible to make food choices that are better for animals, people, and the environment.

Diet for a Green Planet‘s fourth criterion is reduced waste and includes a variety of tools related to diet & zero waste.

Green Healthcare: Healthy and Sustainable Food by the Canadian Coalition for Green Health Care has a page on Food Waste that has reports, flyers, tools, and strategies for reducing waste.

Upcycled Food Association (UFA) is a nonprofit trade association focused on reducing food waste by growing the upcycled food economy. The mission of the UFA is to champion upcycling as one of the most critical solutions to mitigate the climate crisis and advocate for the best interests of the upcycled food industry.

Coming to Grips with Food Waste (2018) is a short article that discusses the environmental impact of food waste in hospital foodservice, highlighting the Royal Children’s Hospital’s Recycle Food Project, which aims to minimize waste by recycling unserved foods. While it provides useful insights and interactive tools for understanding food waste, it is primarily focused on Australia and lacks peer review.

SDG Briefs: Dietitian-Nutritionist Roles – In 2015, the United Nations introduced the seventeen Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to promote inclusive and sustainable development. These briefs explore the roles of Dietitian-Nutritionists (D-N) in relation to each SDG, aiming to raise awareness and highlight their contributions toward achieving these goals. Food Waste is covered under several SDGs but is covered heavily in SDG12: Responsible Consumption & Production.

Initiated 2022 Sep, Updated 2023 Apr, 2025 Jan, 2025 July

Questions? Ideas? Feedback? Contact: ICDAsfs.coordinator@acadiau.ca

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InternationalDietetics.org/Sustainability