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Using CiteSpace software and various statistical methods, this study analyzed 1000 pieces of literature from the Web of Science database spanning from 2012 to 2022. Through a visual econometric analysis of the existing research results, this study aimed to discern the research hotspots and development trends related to food banks. A visual map was constructed to highlight aspects, such as geographical distribution, author distribution, research fields, emerging words, and keyword clustering. The findings indicate that “food bank” is a burgeoning research direction within the realm of food loss and waste. Since 2012, there has been a consistent annual increase in the research output. Notably, there exists a collaborative dynamic among the authors, leading to the formation of a distinct core group. However, these collaborations tend to be localized, resulting in an overall low degree of cooperation. The prevailing research trends in this domain revolve around the challenges and synergies between food scarcity and food safety in food banks, strategies to ensure sustainable development of food banks, and methodologies to effectively evaluate their operational performance.
Xu et al. (Sun,) studied this question.