5s2: To trade or not to trade: environmental consequences for our food system.

Abstract

Applying circularity to food systems is increasingly seen as an important pathway to a sustainable food future. Circular food systems increase the resource use efficiency of the food system by utilising residual streams (e.g., manure, co-products, food-waste) to close the loop of materials. However, closing the loop of materials in a food system dominated by international trade of food and animal feed is challenging. Using the Netherlands as a case study, we assess how the loop of materials can be closed in a circular food system with varying levels of international trade (of food and animal feed; food only; or no trade) by employing the CiFoS-NL model.