Understanding why people waste food

The document reports on a pilot study using 'cultural probes' and workshops with 13 UK households to understand the 'food journey' from shopping to disposal. It identifies a gap between perceived and actual food waste, noting that while many households claim to waste little, millions of tonnes are discarded annually. Key motivators for reducing waste include saving money and environmental concerns, while barriers include a lack of local composting facilities and retailer packaging. The study highlights that women often bear more responsibility for the early stages of the food journey, suggesting that waste-reduction campaigns focusing on shopping may disproportionately place the burden of change on women.

• There is a significant discrepancy between how much food UK households actually waste and their perception of that waste; while 7 million tonnes of food and drink are disposed of annually by British homes, 59% of households claim they throw away almost no food.
• Participants identified the shopping stage of the food journey as the most promising area for waste reduction, suggesting campaign messages such as planning meals and reviewing fridge and freezer contents before buying.
• Motivations for reducing food waste include financial savings, a desire to set a positive example for others, and concerns regarding the environmental impact of food production.
• External physical factors act as barriers to reducing food waste, specifically the lack of local council composting facilities, retailer pricing, packaging, and sell-by dates, as well as restaurant portion sizes.
• Gender roles influence food waste management, with women more frequently responsible for shopping, storage, and cooking, and often acting as the primary decision-makers regarding when food has gone bad and should be discarded.
• The use of creative 'cultural probes'—such as food diaries, postcards, and voicemail messages—was more effective at revealing the complexity of household behaviours than traditional surveys or questionnaires.

APA

de Bruin, A., Cinderby, S., & Cambridge, H. (2019). Understanding why people waste food. Stockholm Environment Institute. https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/understanding-why-people-waste-food.pdf

Chicago

de Bruin, Annemarieke, Steve Cinderby, and Howard Cambridge. Understanding why people waste food. Stockholm Environment Institute, 2019. https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/understanding-why-people-waste-food.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=de Bruin |first1=Annemarieke |last2=Cinderby |first2=Steve |last3=Cambridge |first3=Howard |title=Understanding why people waste food |publisher=Stockholm Environment Institute |date=February 2019 |url=https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/understanding-why-people-waste-food.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{debruin2019understanding, author = {de Bruin, Annemarieke and Cinderby, Steve and Cambridge, Howard}, title = {{Understanding why people waste food}}, institution = {Stockholm Environment Institute}, year = {2019}, month = feb, url = {https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/understanding-why-people-waste-food.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }