Household food wastage in Britain
1980
Wenlock, R.W. | Buss, D.H. | Derry, B.J. | Dixon, E.J.
All edible human food and drink wasted during 1 week was collected from a nationwide sample of 1000 British households, weighed, and calorimetrically analyzed for energy content. Households also kept records of human foods fed to pets and wild birds. The survey demonstrated that 6.5% and 5.4% of the edible food brought into the home remained uneaten in the summer and winter, respectively. This was equivalent to 11.7 MJ (2790 kcal) and 10.1 MJ (2410 kcal) per household per week, or 0.6 MJ (150 kcal) and 0.5 MJ (130 kcal) per person per day in the 2 seasons, respectively. Thus, domestic food wastage accounts for less than one-fourth of the difference between total food supplies and the food thought to be eaten in the UK. About 20% of all food wasted in the summer, and 30% in the winter, was fed to animals; pets appear to have a strong influence on the extent of food wastage. Larger families wasted less food per person than smaller households. A significant inverse correlation between the number of children and the proportion of the family's food that was wasted was also observed. No significant geographical or income level trends in food wastage were demonstrated.
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