Review
Version 1
Preserved in Portico This version is not peer-reviewed
The Folly of Food Waste amidst Food Insecurity in the United States: A Literature Review
Version 1
: Received: 15 March 2024 / Approved: 17 March 2024 / Online: 18 March 2024 (07:29:23 CET)
A peer-reviewed article of this Preprint also exists.
Royer, M.F. The Folly of Food Waste Amidst Food Insecurity in the United States: A Literature Review. Challenges 2024, 15, 21. Royer, M.F. The Folly of Food Waste Amidst Food Insecurity in the United States: A Literature Review. Challenges 2024, 15, 21.
Abstract
Food insecurity is an economic and social condition that involves individuals having limited or uncertain access to healthy food. Despite the well-intentioned efforts of both governmental and not-for-profit organizations in addressing food insecurity, well over one-in-ten households in the U.S., the wealthiest nation in the world, experience food insecurity every year. This literature review covered several government programs and research interventions designed to address food insecurity. Results from the review highlight how the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP), and not-for profit food banks have demonstrated success in improving food insecurity. However, the prevalence of food insecurity among U.S. households has fluctuated without any sustained decreases that achieve a food insecurity rate that remains below 10 percent of the population. Food waste, which refers to food that is edible yet discarded at the retail or consumption phases, is rampant in the U.S., as approximately 30 percent (66.5 million tons) of edible food is wasted after leaving the farm every year. Food waste prevention efforts that involve rescuing edible, nutritious food and redistributing it to individuals who are food insecure can promote both environmental- and public health through simultaneous reductions in food waste and food insecurity.
Keywords
food insecurity; food waste; food assistance; food is medicine; literature review
Subject
Public Health and Healthcare, Public, Environmental and Occupational Health
Copyright: This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
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