家庭において食品がロスに至った原因

抄録

To reduce household food wastage, it is important to clarify the causes that people do not consume the food items they get. A few studies have analyzed the causes in detail by investigating household food wastage, however some of the studies consider only the direct causes of wastage and others consider only the reasons behind the causes. Therefore, this paper creates a framework to analyze both of the direct causes of wastage and the reasons behind the causes.
The results show that the first cause―no intention of consuming the food items―accounted for approximately one-third of all wastage. The main reasons for this were overbuying, unwanted gifts, people’s tendency to not consume certain food items despite the fact that they can finish it, and not feeling the necessity to consume the food items. The second cause―forgetting the existence of the food items―accounted for approximately one-fifth of the wastage. The main reasons for this were low visibility of the items because they were placed at the back or the upper shelves of the refrigerator, and not plan to consume the items. The third cause―no plan to consume the items―accounted for approximately one-fourth of the wastage. The main reasons were buying of items that were already available, losing interest in the items after goals were achieved and the season changed, and carelessness about foods with long shelf lives. The forth cause―not executing plans―accounted for one-tenth of the wastage. The main reason was that the food items were not under the control of the respondents and could be used or consumed by family members.
The main cause was people's lack or weak intention to consume the items. However, there were various reasons, and thus solutions should be formulated for each of them.