تلفات و دورریز محصولات غذایی: چالش‌های پیش رو و چشم‌انداز آتی (مقاله مروری)

Background and Objective: The increase in food demand, in line with the ever-increasing population growth along with climate change, has made the reduction of "food loss and waste (FLW)", which is one of the most important issues in the world today, a fundamental and wicked challenge. Due to the adverse effects of FLW on food security and the effects of greenhouse gases producedby agricultural operations, processing, distribution, and waste disposal on the environment; high values of FLW are known as a key indicator in limiting the movement of societies towards sustainability. Therefore, the growing increase in FLW by agricultural operations, processing, and distribution of products or waste produced after consumption has become an important concern on a global scale in recent years and is placed on the agenda of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Access to reliable FLW data is considered a prerequisite in the evaluation of the orientation of societies towards sustainable development goals, and the determination of the management interventions' effectiveness in FLW reduction, depends on the identification of the patterns and driving factors in this context.
Materials and Methods: The Scopus database was employed to retrieve studies pertaining to Food Loss and Waste. Due to the nascent nature of this area of research, substantial investigations have not yet been undertaken in Iran. About 7000 articles about FLW in the field of waste management were found in the databases, and after the initial screening based on the keywords of food loss and waste, the selection of studies was limited based on the objectives of the present study. Among 3700 studies, 201 studies (between 2009 and 2023) were collected from different databases.
Results: In this article, focusing on the concept of losses and food waste, the measurement methods and different patterns used in this regard have been summarized. Challenges relevant to FLW, including food security, resource sustainability, and climate change, were evaluated and future research directions were introduced regarding waste reduction and increasing the productivity of agricultural activities with the correct use of limited available resources. Due to the directrelationship between FLW reduction and increased food sustainability and resource use, it is necessary to prioritize studies on FLW in developing economies and to examine food loss and waste generally throughout the food supply chain. In this regard, to reduce food loss and waste and its effects, hierarchical measures, from the highest priority to the lowest, including source reduction, use as animal feed, industrial uses, anaerobic digestion, composting, and biofuel production; and landfilling and incineration of food waste having the lowest priority, are suggested.
Conclusion: Major gaps in available global FLW data include non-comprehensive spatial coverage, unbalanced focus on different stages along the food supply chain, lack of sufficient, and non-uniformity of system boundaries, methods, and definitions of FLW. Coherent studies based on primary data, along with using the experiences of leading countries in FLW management, can pave the way for the adoption of correct FLW reduction policies and their principled implementation in the region, and at the same time, provide the basis for possible adverse environmental effects reduction.