Food waste in Australia

click image to enlarge

Food waste in Australia accompanying image

Issue now on sale

In this issue
Subscribe online

Save

E-mail

Australians are throwing out three million tonnes of food every year – the equivalent of 145 kilograms for each and every one of us. That’s why Notebook: magazine has embarked on a Stop Food Waste! campaign that aims not only to raise awareness of the issue but offers practical solutions on how to plan, shop and cook to eliminate unnecessary food waste.

Food waste in Australia

“Food waste in this country is an environmental and financial disaster,” says Notebook: magazine Editor Caroline Roessler. “When you consider that we are throwing away at least one out of five bags of groceries every time we go shopping, we might as well throw away the money it was bought with.”

Statistics show Sydneysiders are the worst food waste offenders, with some bins containing nearly 50 percent food. Victorians and South Australians are throwing out approximately 40 percent and in the ACT, a November 2007 study found that homes were throwing out 4.2 kilograms of food every week – up from 3.7 kilograms in 2004.

To further encourage you, our magazine editor, Caroline Roessler, is going to put into practice this campaign in her own home. Over the next 12 months she’ll share this journey with you on her blog page. Join the conversation with your own experiences. She’d love to hear what you’re doing to join her in this movement.

...Australians are throwing out three million tonnes of food every year � the equivalent of 145 kilograms...

STOP FOOD WASTE! DID YOU KNOW?

* Australians are still wasting $6 billion of food each year - enough to feed the entire nation for three weeks. * Current research suggests the majority of food thrown away is fresh fruit and vegetables. * Meat, fish, bread, dairy produce, rice and pasta are all in the �top� most wasted foods.

* The two main reasons for food wastage is that people �cook or prepare too much� or �don�t use food before its use-by date�. * A 2005 study by The Australia Institute estimated that food waste was costing Australians $5.3 billion per year. * The Australian 2006 National Greenhouse Gas Inventory report stated methane emissions from solid waste disposal on land were equivalent to 13.2 million tonnes of carbon dioxide. * According to CSIRO data, dumping a kilogram of beef wastes the 50,000 litres of water it took to produce that meat; throwing out a kilogram of white rice will waste 2,385 litres and wasting a kilogram of potatoes costs 500 litres.

Published in Notebook Magazine

Issue: September 2008

Currently 3.62/5
1
2
3
4
5

Current Rating: 3.6/5

Your say

Join the discussion

Notebook is about sharing your comments, ideas, opinions and tips with others. To make a comment you must be a member of myNotebook:

Latest comments:

Marli_Kelly

commented on Food waste in Australia at 7:24pm Sun 17th August, 2008

I read this article on the weekend. Thank you so much for inspiring me to remember what the women in our family have taught me - but which I sometimes forget. We're pretty good and use everything mostly - dogs help as scrap eaters. It was the best edition of your magazine I've read and I'm fussy as I work in PR. Thanks so much. I've gone through my drawers today to give away clothes that no longer are being worn. It applies on all levels of our life really doesn't it!!!!!