This could be a question asked by a circular economy expert in any of the EU 1.5° Lifestyles project discussions about policies and tools for promoting and implementing low carbon lifestyles. And why not, because 1.5° lifestyles and a circular economy are mutually supportive approaches that share a common goal. While the question of the circularity of materials is easier to answer, food is a different type of resource. Discussions about the circularity of food are relatively new and less common. However, this challenge is being addressed by the partners of the Interreg Baltic project Circular FoodShift.
What are Circular Food Systems?
Food is considered circular when it is responsibly produced, distributed, prepared and consumed, with any leftovers returned to the system at their highest possible value. In other words, in a fully circular food system, no food waste ends up in landfill.
Consumption of food in a circular way can be supported by a transformation of the whole food system (from agricultural growing and production to food processing, packaging, distribution, preparation, consumption and food waste management) from linear to circular where its natural resources are used and reused, nutrients recycled, by-products reduced, and the remains are safely recovered or returned to the soil. As the socio-institutional change is the largest challenge, the circular food system community plays a critical role in implementing and sustaining these changes. A circular food system community is a network of food and other sector stakeholders working together with a common goal to increase circular food solutions: producing food sustainably, using food efficiently, reusing side and waste streams, and preventing food waste. Its aim is to transform the food system (production, distribution, and consumption) in line with circular food values based on the notion that food is a resource not a commodity.
Circular Food Initiatives
There is a variety of circular food initiatives. They are based on the resource value retention hierarchy and the food waste hierarchy. These initiatives ensure the transition from linear to circular food production and consumption, and from waste generation to waste prevention and management of leftover resources. All of them emphasize the holistic value of food as opposed to the economic value of food. Below are some examples of circular food initiatives, categorised by the degree of resource value recovery:
- R0 – Refuse and R1 – Rethink:
- Food waste audits – regular tracking of food loss by type, reason, date and amount per institution. Based on the results, recommendations are provided to caterers to reduce the most commonly wasted food products.
- R2 – Reduce:
- Zero waste cooking – a culinary lab where cooking is done in a way that all the raw materials of fruits and vegetables necessary for cooking are used maximally and in a variety of ways ensuring no leftovers.
- Food waste reduction workshops – events to develop responsible food consumption skills: “How to shop responsibly”, “How to store food smartly”, “How to freeze food thoughtfully”.
- R3 – Reuse:
- Community food fridge – a cupboard or refrigerated shelf in a local neighbourhood where anyone can share food to avoid food waste, either by bringing food to leave in the fridge or by taking food from the fridge to use themselves.
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The Community Fridge is a circular food initiative that helps to collectively reduce food waste while also alleviating food poverty. Photo @ Inga Belousa - Last minute food market – initiative helping food producers and retail to reduce food waste and sell food suitable for consumption (unsold food left at the end of the day or food with a nearing expiration date) at a reduced price at the end of the day.
- Food rescue volunteer network – social movement that engages volunteers to collect fresh food surpluses from local businesses and to deliver it to social service agencies, serving the food from landfill.
- R4 – Repair, R5 – Refurbish, R6 – Remanufacture:
- Industrial conversion of food surpluses, food waste, food by-products (unavoidable side products of food production) into value-added products.
- R7 – Repurpose:
- Food leftover cooking – a culinary lab where meals are created from food that has been left from previous cooking process or previously cooked and not eaten food. Example: okara-vegetable balls made from soybean pulp (okara) that remains after making soy milk.
- Disco Soup – a public culinary lab for cooking and enjoying a meal of fruits and vegetables that, for various reasons (e.g. visually imperfect fruit), would otherwise be thrown away.
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These images are from the event Disco Soup, which is a participatory culinary event for cooking from leftover food where everyone gets involved in the solidarity and joyful adventure. Photo @ Dita Dembovska
- R8 – Recycle and R9 – Recover:
- Community compost – type of composting in the local neighbourhood, where organic household waste is composted and used by the residents themselves.
- Community compost making workshop – educational sessions on creating compost systems.
As we see, the initiatives mentioned first, are with the higher product’s original quality and the highest level of resource value recovery. This means that it is great if we compost food scraps or leftovers, but their resource value is still partly wasted, as producing food for human consumption consumes large amounts of resources and energy. The higher up in the food waste hierarchy we act, the more of the original resource value is retained.
Now, let's explore how the 1.5° lifestyle aligns with circular nutrition practices. While reducing animal-based products in our diets is one of the most impactful changes individuals can make, it is equally important to consider how much food waste we generate in our household.
Although, as the EU 1.5° Lifestyles project research confirms, avoiding food waste at home isn't the highest lifestyles priority for carbon reduction, its cumulative impact when adopted by large groups can significantly contribute to sustainability goals, especially when paired with plant-based diets. Furthermore, avoiding food waste at home has the highest acceptance rate among the participants of citizen, stakeholder thinking labs and co-creation workshops, recognized as one of the easiest and most convenient actions to start the journey of transforming personal food consumption.
Ready to reduce food waste and make your nutrition more circular? Start by auditing your food consumption and planning meals to minimise waste. Small steps can lead to a big impact!
Inga Belousa, Green Liberty
Sources:
Food value retention hierarchy adapted from Circular economy: Measuring innovation in product chains, Potting, J., et. al. PBL Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency, 2017.
Deliverable 2.3. Effective options for a transition to 1.5° lifestyles at the household level. Public report. 2024.
Circular FoodShift is an Interreg Baltic Sea Region project that from 2023 to 2025 serves to promote circular food concept and practices and to support circular food shift helping authorities in rural and peri-urban municipalities to transform food models with more responsible food choices and less food waste at schools, catering and food businesses.