Reducing food waste as a base of innovative Lean Society philosophy

Abstract

Due to the high level of losses and food waste nowadays, the problem become global. The main causes of food loss in households are: exceeding shelf life, excessive purchases, damage and low quality, additionally excessive portions of meals, wrong food storage, the bad taste of the product, lack of idea on how to use available ingredients, as well as reckless purchases, too large packaging. Negative effects of food loss can be grouped into three areas: environmental, economic and social, consistent with sustainable development's basic goals. The aim of this article is to present an original proposal for an approach to Lean Society philosophy with respect to the problem of food loss. The authors reviewed conventional and unconventional methods of food preservation, identified available and innovative solutions in terms of reducing food loss and indicated directions and opportunities for reducing food loss on the basis of Lean Society philosophy.