Food Waste, what is it, how do we count it and how do we reduce

it???John Boland

Associate Professor in Environmental MathematicsUniversity of South Australia

What is it?

• Food is the most wasteful consumption in Australia, comprising as much as 40 per cent of the domestic waste stream

• Wastage of food necessarily entails the wastage of valuable natural resources (especially water) and the chemicals involved in food production (fertilisers, pesticides and herbicides) as well as the use of landfill.

What is it?

• The Australian 2006 National Greenhouse Gas Inventory report states that methane emissions from organic matter in landfills accounted for ’79.2% of total emissions from the Waste Sector in 2006’ and that methane emissions from solid waste disposal on land were equivalent to 13.2 million tonnes of carbon dioxide.

• There are also economic benefits to reducing food waste: The Australia Institute estimated that food worth $5.3 billion was wasted in 2004 , enough to feed the entire nation for three weeks.

But what is it really?

• Food waste can be generated all along the production chain, primary production, wholesale, retail, restaurants, domestic.

• ARC Linkage Project LP09900554 - Zeroing in on food waste: Measuring, understanding and reducing food waste.• 2009-2012, Prof WA Dawson; A/Prof JW Boland;

A/Prof J Coveney; A/Prof PR Ward; Dr Anne Sharp; Miss M Stasiak; Mr A Gray.

MELTDOWN – Ben Elton, 2009Before

• And when he opened the fridge, he didn’t notice the vast array of bowls containing bits of half-eaten kiddie meals, diced carrots and mashed potatoes, all carefully preserved under clingfilm until the time when they would be deemed mouldy enough to be legitimately chucked away.

Oliver Twist

• In the early 1970’s at ANU, the student cafeteria served a soup named Oliver Twist, made from leftovers from the previous day.

• Mid 1970’s this practice was discontinued presumably due to health regulations being tightened, boosted, altered??

Am I not pretty enough??• More than 100,000 tonnes of Queensland bananas go to waste every year

because the fruit does not meet cosmetic retail standards.• Primary Industries Minister Tim Mulherin said millions of bananas - nearly

a third of the total crop - were graded out in the packaging process each year.

• Australian Banana Growers' Council chief executive Tony Heidrich said “A greengrocer was more prepared to accept blemishes on the skin ... but the supermarket chains claim shoppers buy with their eyes and prefer their fruit and vegetables with as few blemishes as possible.”

Conundrums• Is food that has gone off still food, and if thrown out, is it food waste or

not?• Much food is undesirable – wrong shape, size, so if it is thrown out, is it

waste?• Excess food that is composted – waste?• Food grown oneself and then becomes excess, then composted, waste or

resource?• Food grown to feed animals for human consumption, partial waste?

– Use alternative sources of protein– People consume excess animal protein with respect to NHMRC guidelines.

• Should we count out of season or out of country food as having a waste component?

• Is non organic fruit and vegetables classed as having a waste component?

Our project focuses on the household level - why???

• Practicality – the problem is too big to attack at all levels at once.

• More importantly, if consumers decide that the situation is dire, and change is necessary, pressure can be brought to bear on the other sectors.

What happens at the household level?

• Decisions to throw away food because it has exceeded its expiry date, or because it ‘looks bad’, are based on psychological and culturally reinforced ideas of risk;

• Lack of planning;• Saving Face - over-provision;• Lack of knowledge;• Continual snacking syndrome – lower appetite at

meals;• Sloth!

Measuring• This project will draw from the findings of a food waste audit that will be

commissioned by the industry partner Zero Waste SA. • A national survey will be conducted to validate and triangulate the

findings from the ethnographic research in South Australian households. The survey will provide a national understanding of food waste attitudes, motives and behaviour.

• An Ecological Footprint (EF) calculator has been used to make an indicative estimation of the potential CO2 emissions reduction from lowering food wastage. Since there is almost a 1:1 correspondence in energy use and greenhouse gas emissions, we will be able to calculate the reduction in CO2 emissions driven by reducing food waste.

What to do about it?• Plan menu;• When shopping, use a list;• Be aware of seasonality;• Be aware of source;• Buy organic, but beware of where sourced, as with all foods;• Avoid supermarkets for perishables;• Be aware of what remains;• Join the foraging federation!• Compost, compost, compost;• Grow what you can;• Lobby for and join a community garden.• Take your lunch to work – at the very least, don’t buy lunch at places with

pre-prepared food.

Innovative Solution

• The longest running radio show in the US is a satirical look at American life called the Garrison Keillor Radio Show.

• The episode on RN on 3/01/10 included a skit about Louie Louie – an entrepreneur who owns a Food Salvage Business.

• He explained that since organisations run dinners for exposure and publicity, many “celebrities” have to attend lots of these, but eat little.

• He goes around these, collecting “waste” food, and makes beef stew from the filet mignon, fruit soup from the leftover fruit, and sells this. What would the health authorities say about this??

Ugly Apple

• It was in that moment I realized the most counter-intuitive difference between a tasty, local, organically-grown apple and the grocery store version.

• The store version may be attractive but ugly tastes better. A locally grown apple is more nutritious, having more vitamins, minerals and antioxidants. And it isn’t coated with wax to preserve it during a week of traveling from farm to store. The organic farmer can avoid the wasteful packaging needed when apples are transported longer distances. And shorter travel time means fewer carbon emissions.

MELTDOWN – Ben Elton, 2009After

• Shopping and cooking on a tiny budget were hard work, but also rewarding. What’s more, the rewards were real and tangible. The family discovered that food tasted better if you really had to make the most of it.

• Monica constantly looked back at the amount of food she had thrown away in the past.

• I swear I used to scrape half a week’s worth of food into the bin every night, she’d say. God, I let Toby chuck an apple away if it had a blemish on it.