Food losses and waste in primary production

This report presents the results from six case studies of food losses and waste in primary production in the Nordic region. The product groups studied were carrots, onions, cereal (wheat or rye), green peas, field peas, and cultivated fish (rainbow trout or char). We used different methods to study the side flows: questionnaires, in-field measurements and interviews. Instead of the term “food losses and waste” we use the term “side flows”.The side flow ranged from 4 % to 31 % for vegetables, cereals and pulses and most of the side flow for occurs after harvest, e.g. when sorting and storing the products. The main reason for side flow is quality issues. Weather conditions and diseases have a major impact on the quality of the products. We cannot draw many conclusions on side flow amounts for fish based on the results. The reasons for fish side flow are mainly diseases and predators.