Everybody loves having their theories confirmed. This bit of qualitative research from the University of Manchester did that for yours truly.
I’ve long believed this formula to be true:
Heightened expectations for cooking homemade meals + Busy lifestyles = More waste.
Now I have some sociological support for that theory, along with some interviews that I conducted for my book research. Here’s the crux of Dr. David Evans’ findings:
A lot of so-called proper food is perishable and so needs to be eaten within a pretty narrow timeframe. Our erratic working hours and leisure schedules make it…is perfectly understandable that people might forget or be too tired to cook the food that they have at home and so end up going for a takeaway and throwing out the food they had already purchased.
The solution? According to Dr. Evans, food opinion makers like celebrity chefs should help make it cool to eat the same meal two nights in a row. He also suggests more frozen veggies and kitchen cheating.
To that, I’d add: We need to be more realistic about our time and schedules. Making more frequent, smaller shopping trips will help, too. Plus, find some so-called Tuesday night cookbooks (quick, simple recipes) that speak to you (and hopefully have some ideas on how to repurpose leftovers).
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