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Paper short abstract

This paper examines how food system quantification shapes understanding, responsibility, and action. Using long-term Finnish food waste data, it shows how sectoral measurement and definitions produce narratives, fragment attention, and can obscure broader sustainability priorities.

Paper long abstract

This paper examines how quantification shapes the understanding and governance of food system problems. It draws on long-term monitoring of food waste across the Finnish food chain, where waste has been measured since 2009 in primary production, industry, retail, food services, and households. EU member states report waste using the same sectoral framework, aiming to reduce food waste by 30% at the consumption level by 2030. Quantification makes the problem visible and targets measurable but also produces narratives about where waste occurs and who is responsible, shaped and constrained by data gaps, limited scope, and simplifications.

Sector-based measurement often relies on selective sampling, leaving parts of the system unmonitored. Definitions further shape visibility: results do not always distinguish the edible fraction, limiting the effectiveness of reduction measures. The sectoral framework encourages fragmented solutions, as each sector focuses on its own reductions. Finnish retail, for example, has cut waste by nearly 40%, yet this translates to only a 4% reduction in total consumption-level waste. Treating households as a comparable sector oversimplifies the problem: everyday food practices follow different logics than business operations, and consumers pursue multiple goals while unaware of how much food they discard.

Focusing on waste can also obscure broader sustainability priorities. Household food waste in Finland represents roughly 6–7% of purchased food, while environmental impacts are driven far more by dietary patterns. Without contextual interpretation, numbers risk directing attention toward what is easiest to measure rather than what supports overall sustainability.