Luxus Consumption: Wasting Food Resources Through Overeating

Abstract

In this paper, we redefine the term luxus consumption to mean food waste and overconsumption leading to storage of body fat, health problems, and excess resource utilization. We develop estimates of the prevalence of luxus consumption and its environmental consequences using US food supply, agricultural, and environmental data and using procedures modeled after energetics analysis and ecological footprint analysis. Between 1983 and 2000, US food availability (food consumption including waste) increased by 18% or 600 kcal (2.51 MJ) per person. This luxus consumption required 0.36 hectares (ha) of land and fishing area per capita, 100.6 million ha for the US population, and 3.1% of total US energy consumption. Luxus consumption increased more for particular foods, such as high fructose corn syrup (HFCS), 22% of which was used in carbonated beverages. As an example, the luxus consumption of sweetened soda, 31.8 l per capita, used 0.8% of the US corn crop (230,555 ha of land); 33.6 million kg of nitrogen fertilizer; 175,000 kg of Atrazine herbicide; 34 million kg of nitrogen fertilizer; 2.44 trillion kcal (10.2 PJ) for production inputs and post-harvest handling; and led to 4.9 million metric tons of soil erosion. Diet soft drink luxus consumption was 43.9 l/capita. Assuming half of US soft drink luxus consumption was bottled in plastic, the energy cost for plastics would have been 2.49 trillion kcal (10.4 PJ) in 2000. Total HFCS availability above baseline in 2000 required 4.6 times the resources used for soft drinks alone. This analysis suggests the utility and applicability of the concept of luxus consumption to environmental analysis and for estimating the effects of excess food utilization. received her master's and doctoral degrees in Human Nutrition from Cornell University and is currently a faculty member in the Department of Nutritional Sciences and the Science, Technology, and Society Program at Pennsylvania State University. Her research and teaching focus on food ecology, food and culture, and the food system both nationally and internationally. She has published articles on obesity, energy expenditure, agriculture and food system issues, and community food security.Jeffery Sobal, PhD, earned a doctorate in Sociology from the University of Pennsylvania and a master's in Public Health from Johns Hopkins University. He is currently a faculty member in the Division of Nutritional Sciences at Cornell University. His research and teaching focus on the application of social science theories and methods to food, eating, and nutrition. He has published material on social patterns and consequences of body weight, the conceptualization of the food and nutrition system, and the process of making food choices.

The interconnected challenges for food security from a food regimes perspective: Energy, climate and malconsumption

“…Although this results in excessive amounts of food waste (Parfitt et al 2010, Stuart 2009) it might also be argued that the system encourages consumption of cheap food, with significant consequences for personal health and wellbeing. For example, it has been calculated that almost one-fifth of food in the US food system comprises 'luxus consumption', that is food consumed beyond physical need (Blair and Sobal 2006). A further example of how a food regimes lens helps to better understand the role of food and its essential fungibility as a commodity to serve principally for profit-seeking, is possibly best demonstrated by the conversion of food grains to auto fuel.…”

An analysis of a community food waste stream

“…Food waste has serious consequences for the environment and community health (Blair and Sobal 2006). Significant energy losses occur when food is discarded, including the energy used to produce and distribute the food, to process the wasted food, as well as the energy captured in the food itself.…”

“…However, although food distributors are important sources of food waste, they do not represent the complete portrait of waste across the food system. Few current studies have addressed food waste in other stages in the food and nutrition system (see Blair and Sobal 2006;Sobal et al 1998).…”

Technology, complexity and change in agricultural production systems

“…New approaches to technology development and delivery have the potential to accommodate these needs by establishing a broad network of individuals with a diverse range of expertise, and working closely with the end users to identify goals, delineate problems and develop solutions 9 . Although the US has succeeded in developing an inexpensive, efficient food production and delivery system, over-consumption and lowered nutritional value have negative impacts on soil and water resources and human health 59 . Globalization makes a variety of foods available year round, but increases hidden costs due to transportation and compromises flavor and nutrition 60 .…”