A qualitative approach to Food Loss. The case of the production of fruit in Lleida (Catalonia, Spain)

Abstract

Conventional definitions of food loss and food waste consider that the phenomenon can be measured with mass or monetary units. However, the problem is that it is not easy to establish what a discarded foodstuff is. Furthermore, these definitions do not incorporate in their analyses the loss of productive resources. From political ecology and agroecology, other alternative definitions consider that the calculation should be done in terms of energy. This would allow us to include the loss of productive resources in the phenomenon. However, since the counting tools generated by the agrarian economy reduce any economic activity to mass or monetary units, these alternative definitions face a problem of quantification to a greater extent. Consequently, there is currently an open debate about what constitutes food loss; a debate that is not reaching any helpful outcome. In light of these limitations, a qualitative approach to the phenomenon can be more practical. Based on our analysis of food loss in the context of fruit production in Lleida (Catalonia, Spain) we argue that to understand the phenomenon it is more effective to analyze how food loss is produced rather than to try to quantify it.