Each year, a substantial amount of food loss is generated at the primary production stage.

This has negative impacts on the society, contributing to food insecurity, depleting the environment, generating avoidable greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and creating pressure on land and water. FOLOU will work to overcome these challenges by setting up a mechanism to measure, monitor and assess the magnitude and the impact of food losses.

There are several factors hampering the reduction of food losses. At regulatory level, food losses at primary production stage are currently excluded from the EU Commission Decision (EU) 2019/1597, which sets a common method and minimum quality requirements for the uniform measurement of levels of food waste at the national level. Moreover, at technical and scientific level there is a lack of a common measurement methodology to estimate food losses at the primary stage as well as an insufficient knowledge and understanding of the drivers behind it. Likewise, key stakeholders involved in the value chain often  lack the needed  skills and tools to efficiently prevent food losses and adopt tailored solutions.

The FOLOU Learning course is now available!

The FOLOU project, in collaboration with the University of Reading, has launched a free, 2-week online course on the FutureLearn platform.

This course teaches you about the difference between food loss and food waste, the environmental and economic impacts, and makes you discover effective methods to measure and reduce food loss. It aims at farmers, researchers, and policymakers.

_{Enroll now!}

Key Details:

• Duration: 2 weeks (2 hours/week)
• 100% online
• Free certificate upon completion
• EIT Food accreditation

Rethinking Food Loss: FOLOU Case Studies

Food is being lost before it even leaves the farm — and we don’t fully know how or why. That’s where FOLOU comes in.

To uncover the full picture, FOLOU is launching a series of case studies across the EU, measuring food losses in real farming contexts. By working directly with producers and local experts, we aim to understand, quantify, and reduce these hidden losses in primary production.

This is not just about data — it’s about listening, learning, and changing the way we think about food systems from the ground up.

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