Food Wastage in The Czech Households as An Economic, Social and Environmental Issue

Abstract

Nearly one third of all produced food all over the world never gets on the consumer plates and ends up in landfills. Such wastage means also uneconomical wastage of water that is necessary for food production and distribution. In developed countries the main reasons of food wastage include excessive shopping, big portions, incorrect expiration date, insufficient awareness of consumers, and legislative and tax issues. Food wastage is also unethical with regard to 12 % of world population that suffer from malnutrition. The growing world population further deepens the environmental impact of food wastage. The article analyzes the attitude of Czech households to food wastage. The supporting data were gathered via questionnaires, the results were evaluated using the statistical methods of qualitative data analysis. Nearly one half of responding households estimated the amount of food thrown to the municipal waste to equal 100 kg/year/person. Better approach to food wastage issues was recorded in case of urban households. In general the Czech households are not sufficiently informed about the non-profit organization campaigns that point out at this issue.