Material flow and economic cost analysis of the Italian artisan bread production before and during the Russia-Ukraine conflict

The Russia-Ukraine conflict represents a humanitarian crisis and causes several socio-economic consequences, being Russia a key supplier of energy and food commodities. After a few weeks of war, the prices of the essential goods, already increased due to the COVID-19 pandemic crisis, have continued to boost. The present research applies the material flow analysis to assess the sustainability of the artisan bread production, comparing a baseline and a war scenario, before and during the aforementioned conflict, and estimates the economic costs associated with natural and energy resources. The analysis is based on primary data collected through semi-structured interviews among nine artisan bakeries and secondary data collected before and during the conflict. The economic assessment, which is applied to enhance the environmental management of sociometabolic systems, is conducted on the entire artisan bread produced in Italy in 2021 and the system boundaries consider a cradle-to-gate approach. The highest upsurge in input costs has been estimated in electricity (+400%), N fertilizer (+233%) and K2O (+152%). The average input cost variation has been evaluated at +232%. Possible opportunities to support production costs include the adoption of an alternative bread recipe, which reduces the supply of impacting resources without affecting the quality of the finished product, as well as the introduction of structural interventions to lower energy costs. The research could help both artisan bakers, to better manage resources, waste and related impacts under the economic and the environmental perspective, and public authorities, to define appropriate strategies to sustain the bread sector. Last, the research provides scholars with an original analysis of the economic costs in the artisan bread production, highlighting its suitability to evaluate the supply chain sustainability from cradle to gate. © 2023 Elsevier Inc.

Hidden flows assessment in the agri-food sector: evidence from the Italian beef system

Purpose: The study proposes Material Flow Analysis (MFA) methodology as a tool to measure and qualify food waste in the Italian beef supply chain in each stage of the food supply chain, from farm to fork. In particular, the authors attempt to: (1) measure resources consumption and waste generation toward companies' and policymakers' sustainable evaluations;(2) enhance consumers' education in the field of agri-food resilience and sustainability. Design/methodology/approach: MFA is applied to the entire Italian sector of beef consumed as packaged fresh product in 2020, during the Covid-19 pandemic. The analysis regards bovine, which represent roughly one-third of the national meat flow. To collect data, bottom-up and top-down mixed approach is applied. Subsequently, MFA results are used to calculate the wastage-related losses in terms of embedded natural resources (e.g. water, energy). Findings: In 2020, it results that the Italian meat industry slaughtered more than 1.15 Mt of bovine to produce approximately 0.29 Mt of fresh meat, 0.69 Mt of by-products and over 0.015 Mt of food waste at households, while 0.15 Mt of beef meat is destined to catering services and food industry (out-of-boundaries). In terms of hidden natural resources, it emerged that, on average, more than 94bn m3 of water, approximately 101,000 TJ of energy and over 11,500 t of PET and PE trays are required to sustain the entire beef system. Originality/value: This research is one of the few studies proposing MFA methodology as a tool to measure food waste and hidden associated flows in the agri-food sector. This analysis shows its utility in terms of natural resources (water, energy, materials) and waste quality/quantity evaluation, hidden flows accounting and development of new educational strategies toward food waste minimization and sustainability at household consumption. © 2021, Vera Amicarelli, Mariantonietta Fiore and Christian Bux.

FOOD SECURITY AND FOOD WASTE DURING COVID-19 PANDEMIC

At the beginning of 2020 the whole world has been infected by COVID-19 virus. An immediate negative consequence, besides population health, has been the high impact over all the industrial sectors, from primary (agriculture) to secondary level (food manufacturing) involving also food sector. Food consumption out-of-home in some country is almost over, while the at-home one reached high peaks like never before. This pandemic so far caused worldwide more than 1.9 million confirmed cases and over 130,000 deaths, and its socioeconomics side effects involve social distancing, self-isolation and travel restrictions. To this extend, entire countries are facing lockdowns, thousands of jobs have been lost and several industries at any level as well as schools, hotels, canteens and restaurants, have been closed. This paper, focusing on previous and actual food consumption behaviors, analyzes similarities and differences pre and during pandemic. Subsequently, the authors will try to understand how Covid-19 will influence food waste concern, considering positive and negative scenarios.