HOUSEHOLD FOOD WASTAGE IN NORTH MACEDONIA

Abstract

In North Macedonia, there is no precise data about food waste (FW) at the consumer level. For this reason, a survey was carried out in order to evaluate attitude towards FW, knowledge of food labeling, and extent and economic value of FW at households. The total number of the sample was 244. The result showed that 46.1% of the respondents throw very little food while 23.7% do not throw almost anything. Regarding how often the food is thrown per week, 57.1% of the respondents do not throw away food that is still consumable. About 20% throw less than 250 g followed by those who throw between 250 and 500 g (17.1%). Most of the households throw less than 2% of purchased food. The most wasted food groups are milk and dairy products, fruits and vegetables while fish and seafood are the least wasted ones. For 55.5% of the respondents, FW value is less than 5 euro while for 38.8% of them it is between 5 and 25 euro. North Macedonian consumers are aware about FW but there is still a need for more information, management practices, technologies, early childhood education and behaviour change to reduce FW that has environmental and economic impacts.