A Case Study of Food Waste
Contents
Introduction
Who Is Australian Food Waster?
Communication Objectives
Target Audience
Cultural Issues and Socio-economic Situation
Conclusion
References
Introduction
The uneven distribution of resources is striking. According to experts at Food and Agriculture Organization (2011), 1.4 billion tonnes of food is wasted every year. This amount would be enough to ensure nutritional needs of sub-Saharan Africa during the same time period. Reducing the food wastage footprint would also help to address the problem of global hunger that affects 795 million, or about one in nine people on earth (World Food Programme, 2015). The present report is a contribution to the resolute struggle against world hunger declared by Food and Agriculture Organization, Think, Eat, Save, and other social organizations across the globe. The report aims to create a profile of Australian food waster and suggest strategies to motivate the target audience to change their irrational practice.
Who Is Australian Food Waster?
Creating a profile of the average food waster should start from defining the key concept. Mason et al (2011) suggest that food waste is organic waste produced during the post-harvest and consumption of food. According to Gustavsson et al (2012), 30% to 50% of food produced for human consumption is wasted each year, and a larger volume of it is wasted in industrialized countries.The study conducted by Baker et al (2009), and including 1,603 main grocery buyers across the country, provides a very accurate description of the average Australian food waster. According to the experts, such waster usually comes from high-income household with fewer occupants. Another feature of food wasters is that they are not involved into accurate planning. As a result, they buy more food than they can actually eat, and a certain amount of food is in the garbage. Finally, food wasters are usually unaware of economic and environmental effects of the irrational use of food, including global hunger, waste of land and other scarce resources (Pearson et al., 2013).
Communication Objectives
The profile of the average food waster facilitates identifying communication objectives. The project sets itself three tasks.The first task is to identify the main reasons for food waste in Australian households. It is suggested that food wasting in Australia is preconditioned by two interrelated factors. Firstly, the country enjoys sustainable economic development, and the percentage of people exposed to hunger is significantly lower than that in developing countries. Secondly, the majority of Australians believe that their country is immune to hunger (Bussicchia, 2012). A sense of immunity facilitates the irrational use of products. The second objective is to suggest strategies facilitating efficient food consumption in Australian households.
The strategies offered to facilitate efficient food consumption include: Public outreach. Many Australians are involved into food wasting while being unaware of its scale and consequences. While 30 to 50 per cent of all produced food is wasted (Gustavsson et al, 2012), two million of Australians go hungry (Bussichia, 2012).Rational planning of purchases. Many …
