2021/03/18 by Daniel Hoehn, Jara Laso, María Margallo +10 · 38 citations
Agricultural and Biological Sciences · Engineering · Environmental Science · #Agriculture Sustainability and Environmental Impact #Business #Circular economy #Consumption (sociology) #Degrowth #Ecology #Economics #Engineering #Environmental economics #Food Waste Reduction and Sustainability #Food waste #Marketing #Microeconomics #Natural resource economics #Organic Food and Agriculture #Production (economics) #Sociology #Supply chain #Sustainability #Work (physics)
paper · pdf · doi:10.3390/su13063379
published in Sustainability 13(6), 3379 (Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute)
openalex publication_date 2021/03/18 · openalex created_date 2021/03/29 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/30
There is a growing debate surrounding the contradiction between an unremitting increase in the use of resources and the search for environmental sustainability. Therefore, the concept of sustainable degrowth is emerging aiming to introduce in our societies new social values and new policies, capable of satisfying human requirements whilst reducing environmental impacts and consumption of resources. In this framework, circular economy strategies for food production and food loss and waste management systems, following the Sustainable Development Goals agenda, are being developed based on a search for circularity, but without setting limits to the continual increase in environmental impacts and resource use. This work presents a methodology for determining the percentage of degrowth needed in any food supply chain, by analyzing four scenarios in a life cycle assessment approach over time between 2020 and 2040. Results for the Spanish case study suggested a degrowth need of 26.8% in 2015 and 58.9% in 2040 in order to achieve compliance with the Paris Agreement targets, highlighting the reduction of meat and fish and seafood consumption as the most useful path.