Topic 1.3: Reasons of food wasting
Reasons of food waste by consumers
- Insufficient shopping and meal planning
- Shopping environment (e.g. deals like “buy one, get one free” that may lead to impulse buying and over-purchase)
- Misunderstandings about the meaning of “best before” and “use by” date labels leading to edible foods being thrown away
- Insufficient food management skills (e.g. meal preparation, use of food/food ingredients in-stock, use of leftovers)
- Packaging difficult to empty or too large
- Aesthetic considerations (bruised fruit and vegetables etc.)
- Standardised portion sizes in restaurants and canteens
- Difficulty in anticipating the number of customers (a problem for catering services)
- Stock management issues for manufacturers and retailers
- High quality standards (e.g. for produce sold at retail)
- Overproduction or lack of demand for certain products at certain times of the year
- Production errors, products and/or labelling not meeting specifications
- Product and packaging damage (farmers and food manufacturing)
- Inadequate storage/transport at all stages of the food chain including households (e.g. refrigerator temperatures)
- Lack of knowledge and/or misinformation on the environmental, social and financial impacts of food waste
- Low perceived value of food
- Busy lifestyle and conflicting priorities
Practical advice for beneficiaries that will help reduce food waste at home
- Going shopping on a full stomach
- Preparing shopping lists
- Not being influenced by sales, buying only the products you need
- Ability to distinguish expiration dates from “best before” ones
- Controlling the content of cabinets and refrigerators
- Creative cooking with all the products from our fridge
- Proper food storage and processing
- Cooking small portions
Why food is wasted in supply chain
Why food is wasted in supply chain
The level of losses differ from one stage of the food supply chain to another. These differences are influenced by:
- type of crops
- level of economic and social development
The causes of losses at different stages of the food chain include:
- High quality standards
- Overproduction
- Inadequate storage and transport
- Short shelf life for fresh and unprocessed food
- Low level of processing technologies
