Food Losses in Consumer Cereal Production in Poland in the Context of Food Security and Environmental Impact

Sylwia Łaba, Grażyna Cacak-Pietrzak, Robert Łaba, Alicja Sułek and Krystian Szczepański
Additional contact information
Sylwia Łaba: Institute of Environmental Protection—National Research Institute (IEP—NRI), Krucza Street 5/11D, 00-548 Warsaw, Poland
Grażyna Cacak-Pietrzak: Department of Food Technology and Assessment, Institute of Food Sciences, Warsaw University of Life Sciences, 159c Nowoursynowska Street, 02-787 Warsaw, Poland
Robert Łaba: Institute of Environmental Protection—National Research Institute (IEP—NRI), Krucza Street 5/11D, 00-548 Warsaw, Poland
Alicja Sułek: Department of Cereal Crop Production, Institute of Soil Science and Plant Cultivation—State Research Institute, 8 Czartoryskich Street, 24-100 Pulawy, Poland
Krystian Szczepański: Institute of Environmental Protection—National Research Institute (IEP—NRI), Krucza Street 5/11D, 00-548 Warsaw, Poland

Agriculture, 2022, vol. 12, issue 5, 1-17

Abstract: Food loss is a serious global problem, particularly in developed countries; in the European Union, approximately 20% of the food produced each year is wasted. Food losses occur in the entire agri-food chain, starting from primary production, through post-harvest operations and storage, processing, distribution and consumption. The paper presents the results of studies on the evaluation of food losses at the stage of primary production (agricultural production) of consumer cereals in Poland in the context of their impact on the environment and ensuring food security. It was shown that the amount of food losses in the first link of the agri-food chain in the cereal sector in 2017–2018 was on average 219.6 thousand tonnes per year. The level of losses per farm averaged 0.91 tonnes, which accounted for 1.7% of total production. The weight of consumer grain waste at the primary production stage, calculated on the basis of the results of food losses and taking into account the grain management methods, amounted to an average of 117.24 thousand tonnes/year, which accounted for 23.08% of all food waste generated at the primary production stage. By relating the amount of food losses in the primary production of consumer cereals in Poland to the assumed emission factor, it was calculated that food losses at the stage of production of consumer cereals during a year are responsible for the emission of 0.608 million tonnes of CO 2 .

Keywords: cereal grains; primary production; losses; waste; food security; carbon footprint (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q1 Q10 Q11 Q12 Q13 Q14 Q15 Q16 Q17 Q18 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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