(Campanhola and Pandey 2019). However, agri-food systems have to be adopted
themselves based on different contextual changes, such as resource availability,
consumer preferences, and the political and intuitional environment (Campanhola
and Pandey 2019). More precisely, these contextual changes can ultimately affect
the ability of agri-food systems to meet demand for food. Two main influential
contextual changes that we focus on in this chapter are food demand and food waste.
It has been predicted that the growing food demand that we are experiencing right
now will continue in the future, with the global population expected to add another
2 billion people by 2050. This means that food production also has to grow in order
to meet the growth in demand by 2050 (Alexandratos and Bruinsma 2012; Toop
et al. 2017). At the same, food waste is one of the main challenges facing global agrifood systems. Food can be wasted at all stages of agri-food systems. More precisely,
agri-food systems refer to all the activities and institutions involved in the production, storage, processing, wholesale (distributing), and consumption (Ledger 2016)
of food, and at all those stages, food can be wasted in the agri-food systems.
Each year, 700 million tonnes of agricultural waste is generated by Europe alone
(Pavwelczyk 2005; Toop et al. 2017). The Food and Agriculture Organization of the
United Nations (FAO) (2011) announced that a third of the food that is produced for
humans is wasted (FAO 2011). By now, this has become an international issue that
has been discussed at many conferences, including the FAO. Moreover, some
European institutions, like the European Commission and the European Parliament,
have set targets for the reduction of food waste (Halloran et al. 2014). It may be clear
that, in addition to boosting the production of food, we also have to be more efficient.
If we manage to reduce the amount of food we waste and instead use it as
by-products or co-products, that is a big step towards being better able to meet the
demand for food.
The question at the moment is how the existing agricultural systems will respond
to the abovementioned concerns and challenges. The importance of finding a new
approach and new solutions is emphasized by several researchers in this area, for
instance, Gunderson (2001) and Berkes et al. (2008).
The circular economy has been introduced in literature as a high-level strategy
and as a major opportunity to reduce waste and improving the way resources are
used by focusing on creating a closed loop system (Ghisellini et al. 2016; Jurgilevich
et al. 2016; Geissdoerfer et al. 2017), in order to improve economic and environmental sustainability (Winkler 2011). The European Commission has defined circular economy as an economy “where the value of products, materials and resources
is maintained in the economy for as long as possible, and the generation of waste
minimized.” Based on this definition, the priority involves circulated items, such as
plastics, food waste, critical raw materials, construction materials, biomass, and
bio-based products (European Commission 2017).
The circular economy is different from the traditional linear economy, which
focuses on “take-make-dispose” (MacArthur 2013). More precisely, in a linear
economy, the raw materials and resources that are used in production process are
ultimately seen waste, while reducing (minimizing the use of resources), reusing
(maximizing the reuse of products), and recycling (recycling the raw materials to a
58
N. Salimi
themselves based on different contextual changes, such as resource availability,
consumer preferences, and the political and intuitional environment (Campanhola
and Pandey 2019). More precisely, these contextual changes can ultimately affect
the ability of agri-food systems to meet demand for food. Two main influential
contextual changes that we focus on in this chapter are food demand and food waste.
It has been predicted that the growing food demand that we are experiencing right
now will continue in the future, with the global population expected to add another
2 billion people by 2050. This means that food production also has to grow in order
to meet the growth in demand by 2050 (Alexandratos and Bruinsma 2012; Toop
et al. 2017). At the same, food waste is one of the main challenges facing global agrifood systems. Food can be wasted at all stages of agri-food systems. More precisely,
agri-food systems refer to all the activities and institutions involved in the production, storage, processing, wholesale (distributing), and consumption (Ledger 2016)
of food, and at all those stages, food can be wasted in the agri-food systems.
Each year, 700 million tonnes of agricultural waste is generated by Europe alone
(Pavwelczyk 2005; Toop et al. 2017). The Food and Agriculture Organization of the
United Nations (FAO) (2011) announced that a third of the food that is produced for
humans is wasted (FAO 2011). By now, this has become an international issue that
has been discussed at many conferences, including the FAO. Moreover, some
European institutions, like the European Commission and the European Parliament,
have set targets for the reduction of food waste (Halloran et al. 2014). It may be clear
that, in addition to boosting the production of food, we also have to be more efficient.
If we manage to reduce the amount of food we waste and instead use it as
by-products or co-products, that is a big step towards being better able to meet the
demand for food.
The question at the moment is how the existing agricultural systems will respond
to the abovementioned concerns and challenges. The importance of finding a new
approach and new solutions is emphasized by several researchers in this area, for
instance, Gunderson (2001) and Berkes et al. (2008).
The circular economy has been introduced in literature as a high-level strategy
and as a major opportunity to reduce waste and improving the way resources are
used by focusing on creating a closed loop system (Ghisellini et al. 2016; Jurgilevich
et al. 2016; Geissdoerfer et al. 2017), in order to improve economic and environmental sustainability (Winkler 2011). The European Commission has defined circular economy as an economy “where the value of products, materials and resources
is maintained in the economy for as long as possible, and the generation of waste
minimized.” Based on this definition, the priority involves circulated items, such as
plastics, food waste, critical raw materials, construction materials, biomass, and
bio-based products (European Commission 2017).
The circular economy is different from the traditional linear economy, which
focuses on “take-make-dispose” (MacArthur 2013). More precisely, in a linear
economy, the raw materials and resources that are used in production process are
ultimately seen waste, while reducing (minimizing the use of resources), reusing
(maximizing the reuse of products), and recycling (recycling the raw materials to a
58
N. Salimi