A National Strategy to Reduce Food Waste at the Consumer Level (The National Academies of Sciences Engineering Medicine)

National Academies Of Sciences, Engineering, And Medicine; Health And Medicine Division; Division Of Behavioral And Social Sciences And Education; Food And Nutrition Board; Board On Environmental Change And Society; Committee On A Systems Approach To Reducing Consumer Food Waste

ISBN 10: 0309680735 / ISBN 13: 9780309680738

Published by National Academies Press, 2020

About this Item

The item is very worn but is perfectly usable. Signs of wear can include aesthetic issues such as scratches, dents, worn and creased covers, folded page corners and minor liquid stains. All pages and the cover are intact, but the dust cover may be missing. Pages may include moderate to heavy amount of notes and highlighting, but the text is not obscured or unreadable. Page edges may have foxing age related spots and browning . May NOT include discs, access code or other supplemental materials.

Seller Inventory # BVV.0309680735.A

Bibliographic Details

• Title: A National Strategy to Reduce Food Waste at the Consumer Level (The National Academies of Sciences Engineering Medicine)
• Publisher: National Academies Press
• Publication Date: 2020
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0309680735
• ISBN 13: 9780309680738
• Binding: Soft cover
• Condition: acceptable

About this title

Synopsis

Approximately 30 percent of the edible food produced in the United States is wasted and a significant portion of this waste occurs at the consumer level. Despite food's essential role as a source of nutrients and energy and its emotional and cultural importance, U.S. consumers waste an estimated average of 1 pound of food per person per day at home and in places where they buy and consume food away from home. Many factors contribute to this waste—consumers behaviors are shaped not only by individual and interpersonal factors but also by influences within the food system, such as policies, food marketing and the media. Some food waste is unavoidable, and there is substantial variation in how food waste and its impacts are defined and measured. But there is no doubt that the consequences of food waste are severe: the wasting of food is costly to consumers, depletes natural resources, and degrades the environment. In addition, at a time when the COVID-19 pandemic has severely strained the U.S. economy and sharply increased food insecurity, it is predicted that food waste will worsen in the short term because of both supply chain disruptions and the closures of food businesses that affect the way people eat and the types of food they can afford.

A National Strategy to Reduce Food Waste at the Consumer Level identifies strategies for changing consumer behavior, considering interactions and feedbacks within the food system. It explores the reasons food is wasted in the United States, including the characteristics of the complex systems through which food is produced, marketed, and sold, as well as the many other interconnected influences on consumers' conscious and unconscious choices about purchasing, preparing, consuming, storing, and discarding food. This report presents a strategy for addressing the challenge of reducing food waste at the consumer level from a holistic, systems perspective.