ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses closed-loop systems Cradle-to-Cradle (C2C) and circular economy, exposing greenwashing practices but also underlining hopeful strategies for the food production industry in the context of sustainability applied to the food industry. These frameworks were rarely applied to the food industry. The objective of this chapter is to distinguish between ideal, realistic, and subverted circular practices within the food industry through desk research. Three key principles of C2C production, particularly the “waste is food” principle and the so-called 9-R hierarchy of priorities in the circular economy, particularly the R of Refuse, are discussed. The findings demonstrate that the “waste is food” application is conditional on Moerman’s ladder and Lindeman’s rule in ecology. Analysis shows the difficulty of absolute decoupling of resource consumption from economic activity. The findings indicate that the optimism about the closed-loop frameworks needs to be tempered as it is misleading to call food circular, especially as urine and excrement – the waste products – rarely serve as food for endless nutrient cycles. The discussion stresses the necessity of degrowth in population, production, and consumption, as well as more hopeful directions in food sustainability, if not circularity, particularly within the emerging insect production sector.
