Sustainable Community Movement Organisations and household food waste: The missing link in urban food policies?

Abstract Household food waste reduction is an important component of the EU action for waste management, and one of the subgoals of SDG 12. So far, policy actions have focused more on communication campaigns and food donations, and less on the link with sustainable production. Despite the growing number of publications, existing literature has not assessed the waste reduction potential of alternative food networks on the consumer side. Our preliminary study addresses this gap by conducting a pilot food waste quantification study on a sample of 24 households that adhere to community-supported agriculture or the alternative food networks in a municipality of Northern Italy. Given the small sample size, the external validity of these results needs to be tested in future studies. Nevertheless, preliminary results suggest that policymakers should consider the role of alternative food networks in the strategy to achieve SDG 12.3. This will require a revision of the approach currently being practiced in the sector, especially at the urban level.