Food Waste Survey Findings

Food that is not eaten is considered food waste. Food can be wasted due to production or distribution issues, retail or food services sales, or consumption issues within our food system. Last year in 2022 Seven Valleys Health Coalition surveyed Cortland County residents to learn about food waste in our community.

Shopping habits impact food waste. Overbuying, confusion over expiration dates, and finances are a few factors that impact shopping habits. Buying what you need to support your household nutritional needs until your next shopping trip helps reduce food waste.

Who is food shopping

Our survey asked people if they were responsible for shopping for their household. 56.25% of people who responded to the survey shop for all the food in their household. 27.60% shopped for more than half of the food for their household. 15.10% shopped less than half of the food for their household and 1.04% reported they did not do the shopping for their household. Of those, 56.12% reported they shop about once a week.

We had 199 residents respond to the survey. We asked respondents to provide information on their highest level of education. 0.08% earned a high school diploma, 0.05% had at least some college, 42% earned a college degree, 13% did not answer the question (blank) and 32% had earned a graduate or professional degree (master's, PhD, etc.), When asked about living situations, 75.13% of respondents lived in a house they owned, 10.15% lived in an apartment, 7.61% in housing owned by someone else (family, parent, friend, etc.), 5.58% lived in a house they were renting, 1.02% in a mobile home, while 0.51% reported living in another type of accommodation. 83.33% of respondents stated their gender was female, 14.94% reported being male, 0.57% preferred not to say and no respondents reported being transgender, gender non-conforming or non-binary.

Where food shopping takes place

Being able to shop at a location where you can get a variety of items to eat is important to a balanced diet. 91.75% of people reported shopping at a grocery store such as Tops, P&C Fresh, or other local food markets. 28.35% reported shopping at a multipurpose store such as Walmart or Dollar General. 22.16% reported shopping at a farmstand, farmers' market, or directly from a local farmer.

Food Labels can be confusing!

Expiration, sell and best-by dates have long been a point of confusion that contributes to food waste. When respondents were asked what the use by/before date on food means, 59.69% choose it was the last recommended date for the consumption of food while at peak flavor or quality (except for when used on infant formula), 20.92% stated it was the last date the product should be used or consumed on, as used after this date could pose safety concerns, 15.31% selected the date the food item should be removed from the store shelf and discarded and 4.08% were unsure what the date met. You can find more about use by/before dates in our article

Knowledge and Understanding

When asked about ways to reduce food waste and scraps, our community felt they were about 59% knowledgeable on how to do this. We asked more questions about food waste and what folks do with what is left over after cooking or eating. We asked respondents how they discard their food waste. Food waste refers to any food substance that is produced for human consumption, which still maintains its nutritional value and edibility that is discarded and not consumed by humans. This could include leftovers and edible food remaining on plates at the end of meals. 70% of respondents noted they put this food in the trash bin, approximately 39.25% of respondents reported putting them in compost bins, 24.19% of respondents stated they give their food waste to pets or livestock as feed and 13.98% stated they put them in the garbage disposal. These items. One way to help reduce food waste is to split the waste between trash and composting bins. Food scraps are considered any food that is inedible and is usually discarded and not consumed by humans like meat scraps (bones, fat), veggie peels, and spoiled food. 68.95% of respondents noted they put this in the trash bin, 43.68% stated they compost their scraps, 16.32% stated they give these items to pets or livestock and 12.11% reported putting this food in the garbage disposal.  

One way we can reduce food waste is to be aware of what we are throwing away. While some items can be composted or given to livestock, some items need to be thrown away. Respondents were asked over the last week (from the time they took the survey) to think about the items they threw away. This area of the survey allowed people to select as many answers as were appropriate. Respondents reported that items thrown in their trash bin are fruits and vegetables 47.67% of the time, animal proteins 54.92% of the time, grain (rice, beans, bread, oats, cake) 39.38%, dairy items (cheese, yogurt) 30.57%, liquids (milk, juice) 10.21% and 20.21% reported no food waste in the last week.

Composting

Composting is the natural process of recycling organic matter like food scraps or leaves to create a fertilizer to enrich the soil. 42.54% of respondents reported that they currently compost at home. 30.39% of respondents had never composted, 25.97% had previously composted but were not at the time of the survey, and 1.10% reported they take their compost to a compost pile away from their home.

We asked those who are not composting to tell us some of the barriers they face as community members around being able to compost. People reported being concerned about animals being attracted to their compost pile, were unsure how to compost, are concerned about city regulations, did not have any interest in composting, were concerned that others in their household would not like it or support it, having trouble previously composting and issues with housing complexes not allowing composting. Many respondents had an interest in learning how to compost at home, however, most survey respondents (77.54%) were unaware of any local composting initiatives.

Crown City Composters

Seven Valleys Health Coalition has a project we run to encourage folks to compost. Through this project we help people learn how to compost, what to compost, waste to compost on no/low budget, and how to prevent issues outlined above that discourage people from composting. Learn more about composting by visiting our Crown City Composters page: https://www.facebook.com/CrownCityComposters 

One way that we reduce food waste is to send excess food to programs that can help put it in the hands of those that need it. This can be done through groups such as food rescues. On average, people were about 50% familiar with the concept of food rescue. Learn more about a food rescue here and the Seven Valleys Food rescue program which formally launched last year. Food rescues help to reduce hunger, reduce food waste, reduce environmental strain, build community connections, help the local economy, and highlight good stewardship.

At Seven Valleys Health Coalition, we appreciate everyone who took the time to be part of our survey. We have used this information to help understand what food waste looks like in our community. We encourage you to check out our resources listed in this article, our website, and social media as we continue to work towards a healthy Cortland Community.