Household Food Waste in the European Union
By Emma Buchan & Anabella Tzatzanas
Map the System is a global competition that challenges participants to think differently about social and environmental change.
The competition challenges participants to use systems thinking as a guiding approach to understanding some of the most complex issues the world faces today. Participants will delve deep into a social or environmental issue that matters to them and will take the time to explore, probe and research all its connecting elements and factors — later sharing their findings in a way that people can meaningfully understand, share, and learn from.
Our report is focused on food waste within households in the European Union. We wanted to look at the amount of food waste and how it was distributed, as well as the impact on the environment and the economy. We first focused on data available on the European Commission website, then we analyzed surveys and other papers available from several member states. After roughly mapping the challenges with food waste in households we tried to categorise areas (i.e industry, knowledge etc) where solutions could be found, to prevent or reduce food waste. Some of our key findings were misunderstanding of expiration dates and the design and functionality of food packaging (inappropriate portion sizes, no clear explanation on storage method etc).
