Courses

Understanding Food Waste Through the Trade-off and Opportunity Cost Concepts

When it comes to food, consumers and producers are faced with choices. Producers must consider how much food to produce, how to process it and how to get it to the consumer before it goes bad. For consumers, they may decide not only what to consume, but what producers to buy from and how much to purchase and consume. Consumers must make these choices given a scarcity of time and limited budgets. This raises questions for economists to consider. What are the choices and trade-offs that consumes make when it comes to buying food? What opportunity cost do consumers and producers incur to get want they want or to meet social goals of reducing food waste? Are these opportunity costs related to the amount of food wasted? What trade-offs do producers make when selecting methods of production, processing and transportation?

  1. INFEWS

Lesson Summary

When it comes to food, consumers and producers are faced with choices.  Producers must consider how much food to produce, how to process it and how to get it to the consumer before it goes bad. For consumers, they may decide not only what to consume, but what producers to buy from and how much to purchase and consume.  Consumers must make these choices given a scarcity of time and limited budgets. 

This raises questions for economists to consider. What are the choices and trade-offs that consumes make when it comes to buying food?  What opportunity cost do consumers and producers incur to get want they want or to meet social goals of reducing food waste? Are these opportunity costs related to the amount of food wasted? What trade-offs do producers make when selecting methods of production, processing and transportation?

In this lesson:

Students will 

  • Define opportunity cost
  • Define trade-offs
  • Define food waste
  • Define food loss
  • Describe the environmental and food security implications of food waste
  • Identify factors contributing to food waste and loss for consumers and producers.
  • Compare the magnitude of food loss and waste between regions.
  • Evaluate the trade-offs and opportunity cost of a consumer's food choice
  • Propose tips to reduce food waste at home
  • Construct a decision-making grid for a food producer to reduce food loss.