Abstract
This study focuses on food waste generated by households in four Nordic countries: Finland, Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. Based on existing literature we present (A) comparable data on amounts and monetary value of food waste; (B) explanations for food waste at household level; (C) a number of public and private initiatives at national levels aiming to reduce food waste; and (D) a discussion of ethical issues related to food waste with a focus on possible contributions from ecocentric ethics. We argue that reduction of food waste at household level, which has an impact on issues such as climate change and unjust distribution of food resources, needs to be based on an appreciative and relational understanding of nature and food and not only on economic and moralizing arguments. This is done by drawing on an ecocentric perspective where food is seen as one of the areas where new narratives need to be developed to establish cultural habits replacing a focus on affluence and individual choice with a focus on participatory embeddedness in a more-than-human lifeworld.
Highlights
During the last ten years there has been a growing interest in food waste
The Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) of the United Nations states that the percentage of food wasted corresponds to 30% of the global food production (FAO 2011)
We focus on household waste as households produce the largest fraction of food waste in the European Union (EU) when compared to manufacturing, wholesale/ retail, and food service/catering sectors (Danish Ministry of the Environment 2010) and the subject of food waste from households most readily leads to a discussion on behavioural motivation
Summary
During the last ten years there has been a growing interest in food waste. Research clearly shows that it leads to environmental degradation and economic inefficiency, and raises ethical challenges. We describe and discuss food waste at household level in four Nordic countries. There is, to some extent at least, specific reasons for food waste in each of the Nordic countries and again to some extent, context-specific solutions at the regional and national level. Identification of the ethical questions can be done separately from knowledge about local conditions It is, from our perspective, important to understand the background of food waste at regional and national levels to be able to place the more general discussions into perspective. We find that the solutions suggested at the end of the article that propose a shift in the basic perspective on food and nature necessitate that the individual recognise the nature, seriousness, and complexity of the problem
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
