Food Waste Problems on Both Sides of the Atlantic
I’ve been thinking recently about food waste – which to me seems to reflect the way many people have come to think about food more generally. We are presented with a never-ending abundance of food products in the supermarkets, and seem to think little about throwing much of what we buy straight out.
A study in the US has indicated that 40-50% of all food ready for harvest never gets eaten (studies summarised here). This research has been spearheaded by Tim Jones from the University of Arizona, Tucson, and has been widely reported in the states. My favourite commentary on the subject is by Wasted Food, a blog which aims to shed light on the problem and help readers take action.
On this side of the Atlantic, we do no better. Research carried out by WRAP (the Waste and Resources Action Programme) in 2007 revealed that the food thrown away in UK homes is equivalent to one third of food purchased with a retail value of £8bn, amounting to 6.7 million tons of food waste, most of which goes to landfill sites. The research (which is available from WRAP here) was reported by the national press when it was released last autumn, and contains detailed analysis of the reasons behind the level of food wasted in the UK. The diagram below (from page 7 of the report) makes clear the range of factors the researchers see contributing to the problem, ranging from the standard “ignorant consumers” stereotype, to a recognition of the ways social and cultural context can impact our food decisions.
Debates around food waste can add an interesting angle to local food discussions, since many of the arguments mobilised are around income and food consumption culture – an example being the recent debates over intensive chicken farming in the UK, in which many argued that people couldn’t afford to spend more on food. These insights into the way people tend to waste food suggest that there is indeed some space for positive change in our food consumption habits which might allow those on all incomes to choose local or organic foods, even at higher prices.
The report from WRAP highlights (p.8) that almost “all of us” are “food wasters”, and that 90% are either unaware of the problem or “in denial”. In response, WRAP has launched a Love Food Hate Waste campaign (which also has a Scottish version here) which is full of public information. The UK Government has embraced the issue, with the launch of a National Waste Strategy. Keep an eye on your kitchen bin, and if you don’t like what you see, do something about it…
[Thanks are due to Food Democracy for bringing the US side to my attention..]
Interesting post, Ed. That’s a fascinating diagram on the potential causes of food waste. It seems like page 23 of the WRAP study ranks the factors in terms of which ones cause more waste. Do you know where those percentages come from?
It sounds like you disagree with “ignorant consumers” as a cause of food waste. Or am I misreading your opinion?
I do think food waste comes partly as a result of a loss of food knowledge (ignorance). As for consumers, I don’t think it’s ignorance, but lack of meal planning and list making that lead to the most waste. That and being tempted into impulse buys by deals (2-for-1) and enticing smells and sights.
WRAP does provide more detailed information on their website – this page has information about the research that WRAP have commissioned. There’s a link on the right-hand side to a pdf called Understanding Food Waste which is a detailed summary of several seperate research projects commissioned by WRAP carried out by various UK market research and industry groups. See the final page of this report for specific details of these projects – not sure if they’re available online or not.
As for the “ignorant consumers”, I’m always a bit sceptical of any ‘expert’ research which just blames ‘ordinary people’ for a problem, and suggests that educating people and providing more information will fix the problem. While this will often be a partial solution, this potentially patronising view can often obscure more systemic failures, such as the social context in which we distribute and retail food, which might also need changing. Thus, I’m glad to see WRAP’s research acknowledging that the “ignorant consumer” isn’t entirely to blame!
Hiya :)
I just found your blog, as you had commented on the ‘wasted food’ one run by Jonathan Bloom in the US.
We’ve set ourselves a ‘zero waste’ challenge. We’re only in the third week, but we’ve gone from a typical week of 1 metal dustbin and a couple of swing bin liners to just one carrier bag this week!
Food waste is an enormous problem in this country. Did you see Dispatches this week? An expert on there took one family’s ‘food waste’, pulled out the stuff that was still safe and edible and made an astonishing 17 dishes out of it.
It was incredible to see. I tend to view ‘leftovers’ as ‘ingredients’ in this house and last week our food waste amount to 2 slices of peach and a tomato that really needed to be in the compost bin before they walked out their alone.
Anyway, great blog. I find it dreadfully difficult to take on board our attitude in the UK to food waste when half the world is starving, but that’s another matter……….
keep up the great work :) I’ve written an article with tips to reduce food waste if you’re interested.
Mrs G x
It IS possible to get to zero waste, even in a normal family. We “resigned” from our rubbish collection 6 months ago and haven’t missed it. Actually, the system wouldn’t let us resign completely, so our bin is collected twice a year. We put out about a one litre bag every second week — usually containing a vacuum cleaner bag or a nappy after a favourite littlie has come to visit.
We live in Sweden, so perhaps our recycling systems are different to elsewhere, obviously that makes all the difference. We sort our waste into paper, cardboard, metal, hard plastic, brown glass, white glass — we have one of those big plastic boxes you use for outdoor furniture cushions on our veranda with separate bags for each type of stuff. Batteries and light bulbs are also sorted, so there’s not much left.
All the food waste — and there’s quite a lot, as we do a lot of cooking and generate a lot of fruit and vegetable peelings — goes in the Bokashi bin. AND that has been the big breakthrough! We also keep a bin under the sink for all small paper waste (serviettes, household paper, small labels and cartons), and that all goes in the compost bin. Perfect balance to the nitrogen-high food waste.
Anyhow, great to see the food waste ghost coming out into the daylight! We’ll crack this one yet!
JennyH