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Food

Millennials Are to Blame for Australia’s $10 Billion Food Waste Problem

According to a new report, Australia wastes up to $10 billion AUD worth of food annually—and the worst offenders are those midweek takeout-ordering, food fad-following Millennials.
Phoebe Hurst
London, GB
Photo via Flickr user gabrielsaldana

Millennials are to blame for a lot of awful things in this world. Selfie sticks. "Freelance social media consultant" as an actual legitimate job title. Public spaces overrun with grown adults hunting virtual Charizards. Being "down in the DM."

And apparently, they could also be to blame for our burgeoning food waste problem. According to a new report on food and farming from the RaboDirect bank, Australia wastes up to $10 billion AUD worth of food annually, and the worst offenders are those midweek takeaway-ordering, food fad-following Millennials.

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Surveying 2,300 Australians aged 16 to 65, the bank's 2016 Food and Farming Report found that households wasted $1,100 worth of food a year. One in four of those in the 18 to 34-year-old "Millennial" bracket admitted to throwing away up to 20 percent of their weekly food shop.

READ MORE: How Beer Made from Leftover Bread Could Help End Global Food Waste

This could have something to do with their lack of interest in where their food actually comes from. The report found that people who rated Australia's farming and food production industry as "not important" threw out 25 percent of their weekly groceries, compared to just 13 percent by those who rated it as "very important."

Speaking to the Guardian, Ronni Kahn, founder of food redistribution charity OzHarvest, said: "What's happened is we have lost that connection between what it takes to grow and what it takes to consume, and we are complacent. As consumers, we are spoiled for choice and we expect to be able to walk into a supermarket at 11 PM and have the same choice that we would have at 8 AM."

The report stated that Millennials' lackadaisical approach to last night's leftovers could also be down to their higher amount of disposable income, compared to their mortgage-burdened parents.

Rabobank spokesman Glenn Wealands explained: "Gen Y have a higher degree of freedom and spontaneity than the more—I'm stereotyping here—than the more restrained Gen X and baby boomers who have to follow a structure through their week. So they're more likely to plan with good intentions but then something more exciting comes up and that good intention that was going to be Wednesday night's dinner gets pushed back to the back of the fridge."

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Sound familiar?

While the RaboDirect report focuses on Australia, its findings reflect those of other studies into British food waste habits. A recent study from the University of Sheffield on the food habits of 18 to 40-year-olds found that many exhibited "buy a lot and waste a lot" behaviours, rarely planning meals in advance and relying on convenience food.

READ MORE: How Tinder Food Apps and Dumpster-Diving Restaurants Could Help End British Food Waste

Of course, the solution to Millennial food waste—and indeed the grocery shopping habits of people any age—is probably not far off the sage advice your mum packed you off to uni with, along with those 12 cans of baked beans and multi packs of pasta. Plan your meals in advance, shop seasonally, and cook in bulk.

Kahn added: "People need to be taught that a recipe is a guide—look in your fridge and your pantry before you go to the supermarket and if you can substitute an ingredient with something you already have then do that. They would save quite easily $3,000 to $4,000 a year."

Imagine how many brunches you could get with that.