Local setting influences the quantity of household food waste in mid-sized South African towns
December
Local setting influences the quantity of household food waste in mid-sized South African towns
Gamuchirai Chakona 0 1
Charlie M. Shackleton 0 1
0 Department of Environmental Science, Rhodes University , Grahamstown , South Africa
1 Editor: Robert Nerenberg, University of Notre Dame , UNITED STATES
The world faces a food security challenge with approximately 868 million people undernourished and about two billion people suffering from the negative health consequences of micronutrient deficiencies. Yet, it is believed that at least 33% of food produced for human consumption is lost or wasted along the food chain. As food waste has a negative effect on food security, the present study sought to quantify household food waste along the ruralurban continuum in three South African mid-sized towns situated along an agro-ecological gradient. We quantified the types of foods and drinks that households threw away in the previous 48 hours and identified the causes of household food waste in the three sites. More households wasted prepared food (27%) than unprepared food (15%) and drinks (8%). However, households threw away greater quantities of unprepared food in the 48-hour recall period (268.6±610.1 g, 90% confidence interval: 175.5 to 361.7 g) compared to prepared food (121.0±132.4 g, 90% confidence interval: 100.8 to 141.3 g) and drinks (77.0±192.5 ml, 90% confidence interval: 47.7 to 106.4 ml). The estimated per capita food waste (5±10 kg of unprepared food waste, 3±4 kg of prepared food waste and 1±3 litres of drinks waste per person per year) overlaps with that estimated for other developing countries, but lower than most developed countries. However, the estimated average amount of food waste per person per year for this study (12.35 kg) was higher relative to that estimated for developing countries (8.5 kg per person per year). Household food waste was mainly a result of consumer behavior concerning food preparation and storage. Integrated approaches are required to address this developmental issue affecting South African societies, which include promoting sound food management to decrease household food waste. Also, increased awareness and educational campaigns for household food waste reduction interventions are discussed.
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Data Availability Statement: All relevant data are
within the paper and its Supporting Information
files.
Funding: The research was funded by VW
foundation under the Livelihoods Urbanisation and
Natural Resources in Africa (LUNA) project
through Freiburg University, Germany. The funders
had no role in study design, data collection and
analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of this
manuscript.
Competing interests: The authors have declared
that no competing interests exist.
Introduction
The world faces a food security challenge with approximately 868 million people
undernourished and about two billion people suffering from the negative health consequences of
micronutrient deficiencies [
1
]. Yet, at least one-third of food produced for human
consumption is lost or wasted along the food chain between farm and fork [2±7]. Food waste refers to
wholesome edible material intended for human consumption, arising at any point in the food
supply chain that is instead discarded, lost, degraded or consumed by pests [8]. Food loss is
defined as the decrease in food quantity or quality which makes it unfit for human
consumption [
9
]. According to the European Commission [
10
], food waste is composed of raw or
cooked food materials such as vegetable peelings, meat trimmings and spoiled or excess
ingredients or prepared food as well as bones, carcasses and organs. However, food waste can be
measured only for edible products that are directed to human consumption [
6
]. Food losses
take place at production, postharvest and processing stages in the food supply chain and the
food losses that occur at the end of the food chain (retail and final consumption) are called
ªfood wasteº [
11
]. In our study food waste refers to food losses that occur at the end of the
food chain (final consumption at household or consumer level) which include edible products
that are directed to human consumption and are discarded when not consumed for various
reasons. It is related to consumers' behaviour [
6,11
] and it includes food loss before, during or
after meal preparation in the household.
According to Gustavsson et al. [
6
], the annual value of wasted food along the whole food
chain is approximately US$ 680 billion in industrialised and US$ 310 billion in developing
countries. About 31±40% of all the food produced in the United States is never eaten [
12,13
],
and in the United Kingdom, consumers discard about one-third of the food they purchase
even though more than 60% is still suitable for human consumption [14]. Despite considerable
efforts to help in reducing household food waste over the last three years in the United
Kingdom, household food waste has increased to 7.3 mi (...truncated)