William Rathje is professor of anthropology at the University of Arizona, where a study called the Garbage Project has existed for many years. Says Rathje, "The food that we throw away can be very revealing." Among the study's findings:
Halloween garbage contains candy wrappers but no candy, while Valentine's Day garbage contains both wrappers and candy. "On Halloween what's important is the candy; on Valentine's Day what's important is the gesture," Rathje concludes. (One could also conjecture that children do not throw away candy, but some adults do.)
The more repetitious a family's diet is, the less food they throw away. (They keep buying the same limited number of foods and eating them without wasting any surplus.) Paradoxically, more food that is considered in short supply is discarded than foods considered abundant. This is because consumers tend to overbuy the "scarcer" foods, which then go bad before they are eaten.
Buying processed foods such as individual frozen pot pies, does not mean that other foods won't be thrown out. Single-portion dinners are eaten in preference to fresh food that requires work to prepare. More fresh food is thrown out - eventually.
-By Irena Chalmers
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