Strategies and Tools for Eco-Efficient Local Food Supply Scenarios

Paola Caputo, Chiara Ducoli and Matteo Clementi
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Paola Caputo: Department of Architecture, Built environment and Construction engineering, Politecnico di Milano, Piazza Leonardo da Vinci, 32, Milan 20133, Italy
Chiara Ducoli: Department of Architecture and Urban Studies, Politecnico di Milano, Piazza Leonardo da Vinci, 32, Milan 20133, Italy
Matteo Clementi: Department of Architecture and Urban Studies, Politecnico di Milano, Piazza Leonardo da Vinci, 32, Milan 20133, Italy

Sustainability, 2014, vol. 6, issue 2, 1-21

Abstract: Considering the wide demand for daily meals, the issue of the institutional food system has become very important in highly developed societies and, also, how it affects the flow of energy and matter within a territory. This research originates from a wide multi-disciplinary project aimed at developing a self-sufficient approach to improve the institutional food system in an area of Northern Italy. Thus, the aim of this research is to give some guidelines to implement ideal scenarios of food production, processing, consumption, and waste management at the local level. To that end, the organization of the supply and demand within the local institutional food system is inquired. A methodology has been developed to analyze the main energy flows and matter related to this catering, and to outline possible optimal scenarios. This methodology also allows to analyze case studies and to formulate improvements in order to reduce their energy consumption while exploring all the steps of the supply chain (considering the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) approach). The use of quantitative indicators allows a comparison of the impacts related to the different steps characterizing the suggested scenarios. This paper presents results related to a test in the context of institutional catering in public schools.

Keywords: institutional food system sustainability; food supply chain; environmental impacts reduction; food waste management; bioregional approach; life cycle assessment (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2014
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (12)

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