Assume food waste can occur at all points in the supply chain for common people.

Food waste indeed presents a significant challenge across various stages of the supply chain. It occurs at each point from production to consumption, affecting both the economy and the environment. Here's a breakdown:

1. Production: During the agricultural phase, food can be wasted due to overproduction, which may happen when crops are grown based on forecasts that exceed actual demand. Additionally, harvesting practices may lead to losses if fruit or vegetables are not picked at the right time or if they are damaged during the process.

2. Processing and Packaging: Food can be wasted during the processing stages due to inefficiencies or because of quality control practices that discard products deemed imperfect but still edible. Packaging can also contribute to waste if foods spoil due to inadequate packaging or if products are over-packaged.

3. Transportation and Distribution: Transportation losses occur from spoilage during shipping, often due to delays or inadequate temperature control. Additionally, products may be wasted in retail distribution if they reach supermarkets or stores past their shelf life or are damaged during handling.

4. Retail: Supermarkets may discard food that is approaching its sell-by date, even if it is still consumable. Marketing practices, such as displaying more attractive products while pushing poorer quality items to the back, also contribute to food waste.

5. Consumer Behavior: Lastly, at the consumer level, purchasing habits can lead to waste. People often buy more than they can consume, leading to spoilage at home. Misunderstandings of date labels (such as “sell by”, “use by”, etc.) also cause consumers to throw out perfectly edible items.

Reducing food waste across all these stages requires co-operation among producers, retailers, and consumers, along with better education about food preservation and consumption. Efforts to create more resilience in the food supply chain, including improved inventory management and understanding of consumer behavior, are essential to mitigate this widespread issue.