Table 5.
Drivers and strategies to reduce food waste at home
| Food waste drivers | Strategies to reduce waste | |
|---|---|---|
| Avoidable waste | Bad food storage | Food storage and food rotation are fundamental to avoid food waste. It is essential to place new products on the back and old ones ahead, practicing FIFO (first in, first out). |
| Lack in cooking skills and food control | Increase frequency of cooking, training of cooking skills and using kitchen devices for better food control are more likely to enhance skills. | |
| Lack of knowledge in households’ appliances (e.g., oven, stove) and oversights while cooking | Fridge, stove and oven functioning must be clear to avoid inedible preparations. For instance, fridge maintenance regards its temperature, which should be between 1 and 5 °C to preserve freshness and quality. | |
| Over purchase | Shopping planning enhances ingredients choice and meals organization, contributing to reduce over purchase, over cooking and leftovers generation. | |
| Potentially avoidable waste | Taste preferences | It could be useful to vary methods of preparations, be less delicate and give unappreciated food to other people. |
| Out of use-by | Food label comprehension should be improved. “Use-by” indicates that food is not safe anymore, while “best before” indicates that food quality has decreased (e.g., smell, taste, texture). | |
| Out of best-before-date | ||
| Unavoidable waste | Inedible parts (e.g., peel, bones, skins) | Quantities of unavoidable food waste cannot significantly be reduced. However, according to Mikami et al. (2012), it is possible to introduce the eco-cooking to reduce vegetable waste. |
| Unpredictable malfunctions of household’s appliances | N/A | |