NSW government to target young people as “food waste” culprits
A report released by the New South Wales Office of Environment & Heritage reveals that the young are amongst the biggest wasters of food.
According to the report, people aged 18-24 in NSW dine out regardless of what is at home in the fridge, have a poor understanding of best-before dates and have impulsive and lazy shopping habits. The report also shows that this age group wastes between $24.90 and $26 of food every week, contributing to the $2.5 billion of food thrown away in the State of NSW alone each year.
Young consumers were less likely to have routines, which made it more difficult to avoid wasting food. They were also less inclined to stick to a shopping budget.
Perishables such as fresh food were the most likely to be wasted, followed by leftovers and packaged or long-life food.
With funding from the NSW Environment Protection Authority’s grants program, Oxfam Australia is charged with the task of remedying the problem.
The Design for Change co-ordinator at Oxfam Australia, Ms Sophie Weldon, said the campaign was about raising awareness. This will begin with a campaign to engage twith young people online – they will be urged to upload their solutions to food waste and have a role in tackling global hunger.
“There is enough food to feed the total global population of 7 billion people, yet almost 1 billion people go hungry every night.” Ms Weldon said.
For more information regarding this campaign, visit: http://www.lovefoodhatewaste.nsw.gov.au/
