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Food Policy and Household Food Waste

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  • Stephen F Hamilton
  • Timothy J Richards

Abstract

Reducing household food waste is an important policy objective. In this paper we examine how equilibrium food waste among households is influenced by food policies designed to increase household food utilization and to alter household food purchasing behavior by adjusting market prices. We demonstrate that policies that reduce the marginal cost of household food utilization and that raise fresh food prices result in greater food waste for households with sufficiently price-elastic demand for fresh food. Policies that raise the processed food prices increase fresh food consumption, but nevertheless reduce food waste, provided that fresh and processed foods are substitutes in utility and the equilibrium food utilization rate in a household is sufficiently high.

Suggested Citation

  • Stephen F Hamilton & Timothy J Richards, 2019. "Food Policy and Household Food Waste," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 101(2), pages 600-614.
    • Handle: RePEc:oup:ajagec:v:101:y:2019:i:2:p:600-614.
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1093/ajae/aay109
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Luo, Na & Olsen, Tava & Liu, Yanping & Zhang, Abraham, 2022. "Reducing food loss and waste in supply chain operations," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 162(C).
    2. Yu, Yang & Jaenicke, Edward C., 2021. "The effect of sell-by dates on purchase volume and food waste," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 98(C).
    3. Sarah Rohr & Stuart Mounter & Derek Baker, 2024. "Implications for Economic Sustainability of Food Systems from Reductions in Household Food Waste: The Case of the Australian Apple Industry," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(3), pages 1-14, January.
    4. Yang Yu & Edward C. Jaenicke, 2020. "Estimating Food Waste as Household Production Inefficiency," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 102(2), pages 525-547, March.
    5. Jafari, Yaghoob & Britz, Wolfgang & Hasan, Dudu & Roson, Roberto & Sartori, Martina, 2020. "Can Food Waste Reduction in Europe Help to Increase Food Availability and Reduce Pressure on Natural Resources Globally?," German Journal of Agricultural Economics, Humboldt-Universitaet zu Berlin, Department for Agricultural Economics, vol. 69(2), May.
    6. D’Amato, Alessio & Goeschl, Timo & Lorè, Luisa & Zoli, Mariangela, 2023. "True to type? EU-style date marking and the valuation of perishable food," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 114(C).
    7. Robert Evan Sanders, 2024. "Dynamic Pricing and Organic Waste Bans: A Study of Grocery Retailers’ Incentives to Reduce Food Waste," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 43(2), pages 289-316, March.
    8. Brian E. Roe & Kathryn Bender & Danyi Qi, 2021. "The Impact of COVID‐19 on Consumer Food Waste," Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 43(1), pages 401-411, March.
    9. Liang Lu & Ruby Nguyen & Md Mamunur Rahman & Jason Winfree, 2021. "Demand Shocks and Supply Chain Resilience: An Agent-Based Modeling Approach and Application to the Potato Supply Chain," NBER Chapters, in: Risks in Agricultural Supply Chains, pages 107-132, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    10. Abdelrahman Ali & Chunping Xia & Moustafa Ismaiel & N’Banan Ouattara & Irfan Mahmood & Dessalegn Anshiso, 2021. "Analysis of determinants to mitigate food losses and waste in the developing countries: empirical evidence from Egypt," Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change, Springer, vol. 26(6), pages 1-26, August.
    11. Jayson L. Lusk & Brenna Ellison, 2020. "Economics of household food waste," Canadian Journal of Agricultural Economics/Revue canadienne d'agroeconomie, Canadian Agricultural Economics Society/Societe canadienne d'agroeconomie, vol. 68(4), pages 379-386, December.
    12. Xu, Lei, 2024. "Household Food Waste Patterns: Exploring Categorical Price and Expenditure Elasticities Using a Demand System Approach," 2024 Annual Meeting, July 28-30, New Orleans, LA 343717, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    13. Aino Friman & Nina Hyytiä, 2022. "The Economic and Welfare Effects of Food Waste Reduction on a Food-Production-Driven Rural Region," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(6), pages 1-18, March.
    14. Yang Yu & Edward C. Jaenicke, 2021. "“Progress and Challenges in Empirical Food Waste Research” – Authors' Response to Comment," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 103(1), pages 26-29, January.
    15. Yu, Yang & Fan, Linlin, 2021. "How Does Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Affect Household Food Waste?," 2021 Annual Meeting, August 1-3, Austin, Texas 313984, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    16. Jian Li & Wuyang Hu & Ping Qing & Jean‐Paul Chavas, 2024. "On household food stock and waste under risk," Canadian Journal of Agricultural Economics/Revue canadienne d'agroeconomie, Canadian Agricultural Economics Society/Societe canadienne d'agroeconomie, vol. 72(1), pages 23-44, March.
    17. Yu Zhang & Danyi Qi, 2024. "How to reduce household food waste during and after the COVID‐19 lockdown? Evidence from a structural model," Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society, vol. 68(3), pages 628-652, July.
    18. Travis A. Smith & Craig E. Landry, 2021. "Household Food Waste and Inefficiencies in Food Production," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 103(1), pages 4-21, January.

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    Keywords

    Food waste; household behavior;

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