Food Waste Home Consumption, Material Culture and Everyday Life

About this book

In recent years, food waste has risen to the top of the political and public agenda, yet until now there has been no scholarly analysis applied to the topic as a complement and counter-balance to campaigning and activist approaches.

Using ethnographic material to explore global issues, Food Waste unearths the processes that lie behind Food Waste of food currently wasted by households and consumers. The author demonstrates how waste arises as a consequence of households negotiating the complex and contradictory demands of everyday life, explores the reasons why surplus food ends up in the bin, and considers innovative solutions to the problem.

Drawing inspiration from studies of consumption and material culture alongside social science perspectives on everyday life and the home, this lively yet scholarly book is ideal for students and researchers from a wide range of disciplines, along with anyone interested in understanding the food that we waste.

Contents

Prologue: The Social Life (and Death) of Food

1. Bringing Waste to the Table
2. Ordinary Domestic Practice: Conceptualising, Resarching, Representing
3. Contextualising Household Food Consumption
4. Anxiety, Routine and Overprovisioning
5. The Gap in Disposal: From Surplus to Excess?
6. Bins and Things
7. Gifting, Re-use and Salvage

Conclusion: Living with Food, Reducing Waste
Bibliography
Index

Customer Reviews

Biography

David Evans is Lecturer in Sociology and Research Fellow of the Sustainable Consumption Institute at the University of Manchester, UK.