The DOI matches its Crossref record; 53 of the 54 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Beyond the Throwaway Society: Ordinary Domestic Practice and a Sociological Approach to Household Food Waste
Abstract
This article offers a sociological analysis of household food waste and its starting point is a critique of perspectives in which volumes of waste generation are used to infer the presence of a throwaway society. Drawing on broadly ethnographic examples, the analysis illustrates some of the ways in which the passage of ‘food’ into ‘waste’ arises as a consequence of the ways in which domestic practices are socially and materially organized. Specifically, attention is paid to: 1) routines of household food provisioning and the contingencies of everyday life; 2) the social relations manifest in the enduring convention of the family meal and; 3) the socio-temporal context of food practices. Taken together it is suggested that contemporary sociological approaches to home consumption, material culture and everyday life can usefully engage with public and policy concerns about the origins and consequences of food waste.
Overview
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Verification
Claims the paper makes
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
In the citing paper
“in terms of wasting food it has been found to be negative, with consumers feeling bad or guilty about wasting food (Evans, 2012;Watson and Meah, 2012).”
From "The road to food waste is paved with good intentions": When consumers' goals inhibit the minimization of household food waste (2019) · cites this paper as Evans, 2012
In the citing paper
“Despite their generally negative attitude toward food waste, consumers often pursue goals that can inhibit their intention to reduce food waste.”
From "The road to food waste is paved with good intentions": When consumers' goals inhibit the minimization of household food waste (2019) · cites this paper as Evans, 2012
In the citing paper
“Most studies dealing with food waste show that consumers feel bad about wasting food (Evans, 2012; Watson and Meah, 2012) and are concerned when they throw food away.”
From Understanding the antecedents of consumers' attitudes towards doggy bags in restaurants: Concern about food waste, culture, norms and emotions (2017) · cites this paper as Evans, 2012
In the citing paper
“At the purchase stage consumers often rely on food shopping routines (Maubach, Hoek, & McCreanor, 2009) and admit to regularly buying more food than needed (Evans, 2012) or food products they never use (Wansink, Brasel, & Amjad, 2000), thereby increasing food waste.”
From Domestic food practices: A study of food management behaviors and the role of food preparation planning in reducing waste (2018) · cites this paper as Evans, 2012
Citations
Cites
Distinction: A Social Critique of the Judgement of Taste*
Bourdıeu, P. (2018) · Routledge eBooks · doi:10.4324/9781315680347-10 · Cited by 20,325
Distinction: A Social Critique of the Judgement of Taste.
Warner, M., Bourdieu, P., & Nice, R. (1985) · MLN · doi:10.2307/2905454 · Cited by 14,110
Ethnography in/of the World System: The Emergence of Multi-Sited Ethnography
Marcus, G. E. (1995) · Annual Review of Anthropology · doi:10.1146/annurev.an.24.100195.000523 · Cited by 8,885
The Social Life of Things: Commodities in Cultural Perspective
(1986) · doi:10.1017/cbo9780511819582 · Cited by 6,267
Consumption and Theories of Practice
Warde, A. (2005) · Journal of Consumer Culture · doi:10.1177/1469540505053090 · Cited by 2,682
Schatzki, T. R. (1996) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/cbo9780511527470 · Cited by 2,260
Kusenbach, M. (2003) · Ethnography · doi:10.1177/146613810343007 · Cited by 2,099
Feeding the Family: The Social Organization of Caring as Gendered Work.
Ciurea, M., & DeVault, M. L. (1993) · Industrial and Labor Relations Review · doi:10.2307/2524247 · Cited by 1,262
The Social Life of ThingsPreprint
Appadurai, A. (1988) · RePEc: Research Papers in Economics · Cited by 1,139
The Coming Crisis of Empirical Sociology
Savage, M., & Burrows, R. (2007) · Sociology · doi:10.1177/0038038507080443 · Cited by 957
Finch, J. (2007) · Sociology · doi:10.1177/0038038507072284 · Cited by 821
Oakley, A. (2018) · Policy Press eBooks · doi:10.1332/policypress/9781447346166.001.0001 · Cited by 800
Mobile Methods and the Empirical
Büscher, M., & Urry, J. (2009) · European Journal of Social Theory · doi:10.1177/1368431008099642 · Cited by 764
Waste and want : a social history of trash
Strasser, S. (1999) · Cited by 631
Secondhandedness: Consumption, Disposal, and Absent Presence
Hetherington, K. (2004) · Environment and Planning D Society and Space · doi:10.1068/d315t · Cited by 561
Slower Consumption Reflections on Product Life Spans and the “Throwaway Society”
Cooper, T. (2005) · Journal of Industrial Ecology · doi:10.1162/1088198054084671 · Cited by 511
Personal life : new directions in sociological thinking
Smart, C. (2013) · Research Explorer (The University of Manchester) · Cited by 488
Charles, N., & Kerr, M. (1988) · Cited by 453
(1989) · Choice Reviews Online · doi:10.5860/choice.26-3542 · Cited by 453
(2005) · Routledge eBooks · doi:10.4324/9780203975398 · Cited by 445
The ethics of waste: how we relate to rubbish
(2006) · Choice Reviews Online · doi:10.5860/choice.43-5853 · Cited by 441
Miller, D. B. (2008) · Cited by 412
Bauman, Z. (2002) · Medical Entomology and Zoology · Cited by 363
Home Truths : Gender, Domestic Objects and Everyday Life
(2004) · Bloomsbury Academic eBooks · doi:10.5040/9781474214896 · Cited by 342
Charles, N., & Caplan, P. (1998) · Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute · doi:10.2307/3034869 · Cited by 327
Comfort, Cleanliness and Convenience; the Social Organisation of Normality
van den Burg, S. W. K. (2004) · Socio-Environmental Systems Modeling · Cited by 315
Packard, V. (1960) · Cited by 309
Moving things along: the conduits and practices of divestment in consumption
Gregson, N., Metcalfe, A., & Crewe, L. (2007) · Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers · doi:10.1111/j.1475-5661.2007.00253.x · Cited by 272
Geographies of food: following
Cook, I. (2006) · Progress in Human Geography · doi:10.1177/0309132506070183 · Cited by 272
Southerton, D. (2003) · Time & Society · doi:10.1177/0961463x03012001001 · Cited by 265
Identity, Mobility, and the Throwaway Society
Gregson, N., Metcalfe, A., & Crewe, L. (2007) · Environment and Planning D Society and Space · doi:10.1068/d418t · Cited by 256
Eating In: Home, Consumption and Identity
Valentine, G. (1999) · The Sociological Review · doi:10.1111/1467-954x.00182 · Cited by 250
Convenience food: space and timing
Warde, A. (1999) · British Food Journal · doi:10.1108/00070709910279018 · Cited by 231
The Morality of Spending: Attitudes toward the Consumer Society in America, 1875-1940
Wandersee, W. D., & Horowitz, D. L. (1986) · The American Historical Review · doi:10.2307/1858304 · Cited by 200
Dismantling Mantelpieces: Narrating Identities and Materializing Culture in the Home
Hurdley, R. (2006) · Sociology · doi:10.1177/0038038506065157 · Cited by 193
Morgan, D. (1996) · Cited by 184
Scott, S., & Mason, A. (2011) · Sociological Research Online · doi:10.1177/136078041101600302 · Cited by 175
Tangible Affinities and the Real Life Fascination of Kinship
Mason, J. R. (2008) · Sociology · doi:10.1177/0038038507084824 · Cited by 161
Bugge, A. B., & Almås, R. (2006) · Journal of Consumer Culture · doi:10.1177/1469540506064744 · Cited by 159
Kitchen secrets: the meaning of cooking in everyday life
Hardesty, S. (2006) · Choice Reviews Online · doi:10.5860/choice.44-2079 · Cited by 150
Living with things : ridding, accommodation, dwelling
Gregson, N. A. (2011) · Cited by 149
A crisis of waste?: understanding the rubbish society
(2008) · Choice Reviews Online · doi:10.5860/choice.45-7090 · Cited by 118
Changing Families, Changing Food
Jackson, P. (2009) · Palgrave Macmillan UK eBooks · doi:10.1057/9780230244795 · Cited by 108
The sacrifice of re-use: the travels of leftovers and family relations
Cappellini, B. (2009) · Journal of Consumer Behaviour · doi:10.1002/cb.299 · Cited by 103
Sociological and Social Anthropological Approaches to Food and Eating
Murcott, A. (2015) · World review of nutrition and dietetics · doi:10.1159/000415556 · Cited by 100
English Households and Routine Food Practices: A Research Note
Warde, A., & Hetherington, K. (1994) · The Sociological Review · doi:10.1111/j.1467-954x.1994.tb00109.x · Cited by 93
Family meals: a thing of the past.
Davis, J. A. (1995) · Archives of Disease in Childhood · doi:10.1136/adc.73.4.356 · Cited by 83
Halkier, B. (2009) · Food Culture & Society · doi:10.2752/175174409x432030 · Cited by 62
Munro, R. (1995) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-1-4615-2153-2_13 · Cited by 39
Knocking on doors: recruitment and enrichment in a qualitative interview‐based study
Davies, K. (2010) · International Journal of Social Research Methodology · doi:10.1080/13645579.2010.516645 · Cited by 35
Social influences on food choice and dietary change: a sociological attitude
Murcott, A. (1995) · Proceedings of The Nutrition Society · doi:10.1079/pns19950072 · Cited by 24
The British main meal in the 1990s: has it changed its identity?
Mitchell, J. (1999) · British Food Journal · doi:10.1108/00070709910301382 · Cited by 22
Food as a Medium for Emotional Management of the Family: Avoiding Complaint and Producing Love
Burridge, J., & Barker, M. E. (2009) · Palgrave Macmillan UK eBooks · doi:10.1057/9780230244795_9 · Cited by 12
Research works printed but not linked: 8
- Back L (2007) The Art of Listening. Oxford: Berg.
- Gronow J, Warde A (eds) (2001) Ordinary Consumption. London: Routledge.
- Lash S, Lury C (2007) Global Cultural Industries: The Mediation of Things. Cambridge: Polity.
- Miller D (2001) Home Possessions. Oxford: Berg.
- Miller D (2010) Stuff. Cambridge: Polity.
- Murcott A (1983) It’s a Pleasure to Cook for Him: Food, Mealtimes and Gender in some South Wales Households. In: Garmarnikow E (ed.) The Public and the Private. London: Heinemann.
- Toffler A (1970) Future Shock. New York: Bantam Books.
- Warde A (1997) Consumption, Food and Taste. Cambridge: Polity.
Cited by
Sorted by citations
The food waste hierarchy as a framework for the management of food surplus and food waste
Papargyropoulou, E., Lozano, R., K. Steinberger, J., Wright, N., & Ujang, Z. B. (2014) · Journal of Cleaner Production · doi:10.1016/j.jclepro.2014.04.020 · Cited by 1,711
“Food waste has substantial economic impact (Evans, 2011b; WRAP, 2011; Morrissey & Browne, 2004).”
BackgroundInfluentialSchanes, K., Dobernig, K., & Gözet, B. (2018) · Journal of Cleaner Production · doi:10.1016/j.jclepro.2018.02.030 · Cited by 1,365
“…contributions, most notably evolving around social practice theory, have provided an additional, complementary lens on the issue of foodwaste (e.g. Evans, 2011a, b, 2012a, b; Cappellini, 2009; Cappellini and Parsons, 2012; Ganglbauer et al., 2013; Lazell, 2016; Leray et al., 2016; Meah, 2014;…”
InfluentialDeterminants of consumer food waste behaviour: Two routes to food waste
Stancu, V., Haugaard, P., & Lähteenmäki, L. (2016) · Appetite · doi:10.1016/j.appet.2015.08.025 · Cited by 1,098
“As 158 consumers’ shopping behaviour seems to some extent to be routinized (Maubach, Hoek, & 159 McCreanor, 2009) and purchasing too much food durin g the shopping trips is common (Brook 160 Lyndhurst, 2007; Evans, 2012), such routines could contribute to increased food waste.”
BackgroundConsumer-related food waste: causes and potential for action
Aschemann-Witzel, J., De Hooge, I., Amani, P., Bech-Larsen, T., & Oostindjer, M. (2015) · Sustainability · doi:10.3390/su7066457 · Cited by 910
“that consumers do not carelessly waste food [44,45]; rather, it is the socially-determined practices in food and eating and the”
BackgroundSpaghetti soup: The complex world of food waste behaviours
Quested, T. E., Marsh, E., Stunell, D., & Parry, A. D. (2013) · Resources, Conservation and Recycling · doi:10.1016/j.resconrec.2013.04.011 · Cited by 886
“For example, the research of Evans (2011, 2012) suggests that food waste results from households negotiating the complex and contradictory demands of everyday life.”
Background
Metadata
- Authors
- Evans, D.
- Affiliations
- University of Manchester (GB)
- Corresponding author
- Evans, David
- ORCID
- Evans, David
- Venue
- Sociology
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 2011-10-27
- Volume
- 46
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 41-56
- ISSN
- 0038-0385 (ISSN-L)
- 1469-8684
- OpenAlex
- W2029183606
- Cited by
- 569
- References
- 54
- Citations by year
- 2026: 29 · 2025: 30 · 2024: 32 · 2023: 39 · 2022: 65 · 2021: 55 · 2020: 57 · 2019: 58 · 2018: 59 · 2017: 33 · 2016: 37 · 2015: 25 · 2014: 20 · 2013: 14 · 2012: 11
- FWCI
- 22.92
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Sociology (publishedVersion)
- Research Explorer (The University of Manchester) (publishedVersion)
- Bristol Research (University of Bristol) (publishedVersion)
- Explore Bristol Research (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Food Science › Food Waste Reduction and Sustainability
- Social Sciences › Anthropology › Food, Nutrition, and Cultural Practices
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Waste Management and Disposal › Waste Management and Recycling
- Keywords
- household food waste, throwaway society, household practices, food provisioning, family meals, everyday life, household consumption, material culture, waste generation
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
