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Understanding the Sustainability of Retail Food Recovery

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  • Caleb Phillips
  • Rhonda Hoenigman
  • Becky Higbee
  • Tom Reed

Abstract

In this paper we study the simultaneous problems of food waste and hunger in the context of food (waste) rescue and redistribution as a means for mitigating hunger. To this end, we develop an empirical model that can be used in Monte Carlo simulations to study the dynamics of the underlying problem. Our model's parameters are derived from a data set provided by a large food bank and food rescue organization in north central Colorado. We find that food supply is a non-parametric heavy-tailed process that is well modeled with an extreme value peaks over threshold model. Although the underlying process is stochastic, the basic approach of food rescue and redistribution to meet hunger demand appears to be feasible. The ultimate sustainability of this model is intimately tied to the rate at which food expires and hence the ability to preserve and quickly transport and redistribute food. The cost of the redistribution is related to the number and density of participating suppliers. The results show that costs can be reduced (and supply increased) simply by recruiting additional donors to participate. With sufficient funding and manpower, a significant amount of food can be rescued from the waste stream and used to feed the hungry.

Suggested Citation

  • Caleb Phillips & Rhonda Hoenigman & Becky Higbee & Tom Reed, 2013. "Understanding the Sustainability of Retail Food Recovery," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 8(10), pages 1-9, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0075530
    DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0075530
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Kevin D Hall & Juen Guo & Michael Dore & Carson C Chow, 2009. "The Progressive Increase of Food Waste in America and Its Environmental Impact," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 4(11), pages 1-6, November.
    2. Nord, Mark & Andrews, Margaret S. & Carlson, Steven, 2009. "Household Food Security in the United States, 2008," Economic Research Report 55953, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
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    1. Davis, Lauren B. & Jiang, Steven X. & Morgan, Shona D. & Nuamah, Isaac A. & Terry, Jessica R., 2016. "Analysis and prediction of food donation behavior for a domestic hunger relief organization," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 182(C), pages 26-37.
    2. Akkerman, Renzo & Buisman, Marjolein & Cruijssen, Frans & de Leeuw, Sander & Haijema, Rene, 2023. "Dealing with donations: Supply chain management challenges for food banks," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 262(C).
    3. Christian John Reynolds & Julia Piantadosi & John Boland, 2015. "Rescuing Food from the Organics Waste Stream to Feed the Food Insecure: An Economic and Environmental Assessment of Australian Food Rescue Operations Using Environmentally Extended Waste Input-Output ," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 7(4), pages 1-20, April.
    4. Pérez, Eduardo & Marthak, Yash V. & Méndez Mediavilla, Francis A., 2023. "Analysis and forecast of donations at domestic hunger relief organizations impacted by natural disasters," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 86(C).
    5. Nair, Divya J. & Rashidi, Taha Hossein & Dixit, Vinayak V., 2017. "Estimating surplus food supply for food rescue and delivery operations," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 57(C), pages 73-83.
    6. Mahmoudi, Monirehalsadat & Shirzad, Khadijeh & Verter, Vedat, 2022. "Decision support models for managing food aid supply chains: A systematic literature review," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 82(PB).
    7. Ioannis Mallidis & Nikolaos Sariannidis & Dimitrios Vlachos & Volha Yakavenka & Georgia Aifadopoulou & Konstantinos Zopounidis, 2022. "Optimal inventory control policies for avoiding food waste," Operational Research, Springer, vol. 22(1), pages 685-701, March.
    8. Sharmile, Nowshin & Nuamah, Isaac A. & Davis, Lauren & Samanlioglu, Funda & Jiang, Steven & Crain, Carter, 2025. "Predicting and optimizing the fair allocation of donations in hunger relief supply chains," International Journal of Forecasting, Elsevier, vol. 41(1), pages 31-50.
    9. Nair, D.J. & Grzybowska, H. & Fu, Y. & Dixit, V.V., 2018. "Scheduling and routing models for food rescue and delivery operations," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 63(C), pages 18-32.
    10. Chebolu-Subramanian, Vijaya & Gaukler, Gary M., 2015. "Product contamination in a multi-stage food supply chain," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 244(1), pages 164-175.
    11. Suárez, Carlos Aníbal & Guaño, Walter A. & Pérez, Cinthia C. & Roa-López, Heydi, 2024. "Multi-objective optimization for perishable product dispatch in a FEFO system for a food bank single warehouse," Operations Research Perspectives, Elsevier, vol. 12(C).

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