Minimizing waste in the food supply chain

Principal Investigator: Leanne Keddie, Management
Project Title: Waste? Know More! Igniting Behaviours for Circularity in the Food Supply Chain
Funder: SSHRC Imagining Canada’s Future Ideas Lab

Reducing food waste in Canada is an important economic opportunity. The first step is understanding the factors that are contributing to it in the first place. Research in food waste has predominantly focused on the individual level, and not on the interactions between individual and groups in the various roles within the supply chain. The goal of this research project is to expand the literature with a focus on the system itself with retailers at the center.

The factors that facilitate food waste are multi-dimensional and require an interdisciplinary
approach. Accounting issues, health and wellness considerations around food, modelling to forecast potential system changes, behavioural decision-making and the scaling up of effective designs will all be considered. The outcomes of this research will be of interest to suppliers, processors, distributors, retailers, and consumers and will directly contribute to improving strategies for scaling up innovations and providing direction on policies and interventions to promote desired outcomes in the circular economy.