<p>Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) are a promising bioelectrochemical technology for the conversion of organic substrates in food waste into electricity via microbial metabolism. Food waste management remains a serious environmental challenge owing to the high rate of generation, rapid biodegradability, greenhouse gas emissions, and loss of embedded resources. This paper provides a narrative and critical overview of the potential of MFCs for the valorization of food waste. It focuses on the characteristics of food waste, MFC configurations, electrode and membrane materials, microbial electron-transfer mechanisms, energy recovery, nutrient recovery, and integration with complementary technologies such as anaerobic digestion and hydrothermal carbonization. Recent experimental advances, techno-economic considerations, life-cycle assessment findings, and challenges for scale-up are also discussed in this review. Laboratory-scale studies show promising results in terms of power generation and removal of organic matter, but the field is still at an emerging stage with persistent limitations in terms of low power density, feedstock variability, reactor stability, cost of materials, and practical scalability. Therefore, at present, MFCs are seen as an emerging waste-to-energy platform, not a mature commercial technology. Future research directions should include standardised performance reporting, long-term validation at the pilot scale, cheap electrode and membrane materials, optimisation of microbial communities, and integrated circular-bioeconomy approaches for the sustainable management of food waste.</p> Graphical Abstract <p></p>