Food Waste In Australia
Staggering new statistics show billions thrown in the bin each year
A new report by the Australia Institute, a left leaning Australian think tank, has found startling levels of household food waste. The report is called What a Waste, and was prepared by David Baker, Josh Fear and Richard Denniss.
In total, Australian households are throwing out more than $5 billion dollars worth of food every year. This is more than the Australian government spends on its annual military budget ($4.8 billion), the report laments. Not only are huge sums of money being thrown in the bin, the environmental impacts are substantial, from greenhouse gas emissions to water usage.
Food Waste Study Research Method
The research was done via an online survey of 1,603 people across Australia, with the numbers roughly split between all eight Australian states and territories. Participants were asked about how much food they threw out, and their feelings about their own food wastage. The survey was conducted during October 2009.
Findings
Australians are throwing out 5.2 billions dollars worth of food per year. On average, each Australian household throws out $616 worth of food a year. This works out to $239 per person, per year.
Fresh fruit and vegetables are the most likely item to be thrown in the bin, with $1.1 billion discarded uneaten. Restaurant and take-away food comes in second at just under $1 billion dollars. Australian households also throw out $872.5 million worth of meat and fish.
Environmental Impacts of Food Waste
There are serious environmental impacts associated with food wastage, as food must be grown, transported, processed and refrigerated. The decomposition of organic matter in landfill also creates greenhouse gas emissions. The report found that from food used for landfill, 5.25 Mt CO2-e worth of emissions was created. This figure is similar to that used in the manufacture and supply of iron and steel in Australia.
Income and Household Size Contributing Factors
The report found that the more you earn, the more likely you are to throw away food. The smaller the number of people living in a household, the more likely you are to waste food.
A single person household will waste $363 worth of food per year, whereas a person living in a five member household will waste only $190 per year.
Recommendations of Report
The report strongly recommends government step in to address this problem, especially since there are serious environmental impacts from such behaviour. People are aware of the problem, and realise that wasting such large amounts of food is a bad thing, but lack the skills to make a change in their lifestyles.
Government policy, the report suggests, will have to focus on discouraging retailers from promoting excessive buying. This will be no easy task, as food retailers are in business to sell as much food as possible in order to maximise their profits.
The Australia Institute intends to publish further details on the policy implications of food waste in Australia in subsequent publications.
Source: The Australia Institute report What a waste - an analysis of household expenditure on food. Published November 5, 2009. Report authors David Baker, Josh Fear, Dr Richard Denniss
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