Placing further vacation cookies and leftovers within the freezer won’t solely prolong their shelf life – it may additionally put a dent within the U.S. family tendency to throw away edible meals, a brand new research suggests.
The nationwide survey discovered that discarded frozen objects make up about 6% of wasted family meals in the USA. Based mostly on frozen meals’s comparatively small contribution to meals waste and different findings within the research, researchers say urging shoppers to inventory their freezers is likely to be one solution to stop untimely disposal of meals.
Outcomes confirmed that although general meals waste remained excessive, there was a brilliant spot: Freezing meals was related to much less meals touchdown within the trash.
“We discovered that households with residence freezing behaviors usually tend to have much less meals waste than different households,” stated Lei Xu, first creator of the paper and a postdoctoral scholar specializing in agricultural and meals economics at The Ohio State College.
“Meals waste isn’t just an financial loss – it additionally causes environmental injury as a result of greater than 90% of wasted meals goes to the landfill, and this will produce greenhouse fuel emissions,” Xu stated. “The findings recommend that sooner or later, if we will encourage households to have residence freezing behaviors, this small change in meals storage habits can have a big environmental impression.”
Xu accomplished the research with graduate scholar Ran Li and senior creator Brian Roe, professor within the Division of Agricultural, Environmental and Growth Economics at Ohio State. The analysis was revealed not too long ago within the British Meals Journal.
Roe has been finding out family meals waste for years, however that is the primary research to tease out the place frozen meals matches into the meals waste image. Current estimates have steered about 30% of meals in the USA is wasted, however different analysis led by Roe suggests shopper meals waste is trending upward.
“The truth that meals waste continues to be growing might recommend to policymakers that campaigns could possibly be helpful to coach households about balancing buying habits and taking advantage of the meals they purchase,” Xu stated.
The present research knowledge comes from frozen food-related questions added to the summer season 2022 wave of the U.S. Nationwide Family Meals Waste Monitoring Survey during which 1,067 households participated. Respondents had been requested to estimate the share of all discarded meals within the earlier seven days that had been frozen and whether or not it was purchased frozen or was unfrozen and positioned within the freezer later. In addition they reported the everyday frequency of shopping for frozen meals.
The responses indicated that 85% of U.S. households purchase frozen meals and amongst these, 55% of members reported they bought frozen meals to scale back waste. Frozen meals purchasers had been extra more likely to store occasionally – two to 3 instances per thirty days – and had been extra more likely to be dwelling in households with annual earnings of beneath $50,000. The most typical classes of discarded frozen meals had been meat (20% of complete frozen meals waste), greens (22%) and potatoes and grains (15% every).
“Based mostly on what we’re seeing amongst households, we nonetheless have area to extend consciousness to save lots of meals by utilizing freezing habits,” Xu stated.
Information confirmed a hyperlink between frequent residence freezing and considerably much less complete meals waste. Respondents almost certainly to freeze contemporary objects or further meals had been aged 45 years and older and dwelling in households of three or extra folks – a potential signal, the authors stated, that customers with a house freezing routine could also be extra skilled at managing meals for a gaggle and motivated to keep away from meals waste.
What the staff thought of considerably shocking – and enlightening – was the discovering that about 30% extra of wasted frozen meals was discarded from the fridge than from the freezer.
“Enthusiastic about why that occurs, it would imply they don’t perceive meals storage strategies and don’t perceive how lengthy they need to preserve sure meals and the place they need to put it,” Xu stated. “This means extra specific meals storage directions on meals labels may educate shoppers about methods to appropriately retailer meals to scale back waste.”
Tendencies within the knowledge recommend that shopper training concerning the freezer’s function in saving meals may make a distinction economically and environmentally, Xu stated, and in addition assist tackle the societal downside of meals insecurity skilled by 10% of U.S. households.
“Half of shoppers purchase frozen meals to scale back waste. What concerning the different half?” she stated. “We need to improve social consciousness of methods to save meals, and clarify how folks use frozen meals and residential freezing strategies to save lots of meals. And freezing is without doubt one of the most accessible strategies as a result of basically all households have a fridge and freezer.”
This work was supported by the USDA Nationwide Institute of Meals and Agriculture, the Nationwide Science Basis and a present from the Frozen Meals Basis that facilitated assortment of a bigger survey pattern dimension.
