Mountains of edible food are being pitched out each year – and it’s mostly by the younger generation

Despite having some of the highest supermarket prices in the EU, Denmark ranks as one of the union’s worst offenders when it comes to throwing away food.

Around 690 million kilograms of food were tossed into rubbish bins nationwide in 2009. That figure is equal to around 65 kilos per person – and it was compiled during a recession, when waste levels tend to decline.

But now Environment Minister Karen Ellemann wants to do something about the problem. In cooperation with consumer organisation Stop Spild af Mad (Stop Food Waste), Ellemann introduced a new campaign this month aimed at getting people to waste less and save more.

One of the goals of the ‘Brug Mere, Spil Mindre’ (Use More, Waste Less) campaign urges Danes to learn better methods of saving and eating leftovers.

‘The point is not to buy more than you need,’ Ellemann told Politiken newspaper. ‘And, for example, you should have a day set aside each week where you eat what was left over from meals. But then, I actually enjoy eating leftovers.’

According to a Danish Agriculture & Food Council/Synovate survey taken last summer, 61 percent of those questioned said they believed more should be done to cut down on food waste, with 59 percent saying the problem was a consumer responsibility. Yet 48 percent said they did not think anything could be done to get them to waste less.

The same survey also illustrated the problem is largely down to the younger generation. Of those respondents over 65, 75 percent said they almost never throw excess food away. For those aged 15-24, 58 percent either thought the issue came down to personal choice or had never thought about it.

According to senior citizen group Ældresagen, older people’s habits were formed during the Second World War and post-war periods, when food was rationed.

‘They’d never dream of throwing large amounts of food away and often save leftovers for the next day,’ Maj Vingum Jensen told consumer magazine FoodCulture.

Poor planning and a lack of cooking knowledge are two of the main contributors to food waste, according to Klaus Jørgensen, of the Danish Agriculture & Food Council.

‘The general high standard of living here means that people’s financial situation has practically no influence on whether or not they throw away food,’ he said.

‘It’s possible that the financial crisis might have cut that figure a bit, but if we really want to address the problem then it requires an attitude change and increased awareness amongst the public.’

Author and hunger activist Tristram Stuart, whose 2009 book ‘Waste’ addressed Europe’s food squandering, estimated that less than a quarter of the food wasted in Europe and North America could feed the nearly one billion people worldwide who are considered malnourished.