Food Loss and Waste (FLW) is a major problem for humanity, with a third of all food grown for human consumption being wasted. While FLW happens at every stage of the food supply chain, in developed economies, 40% of the wastage happens in households (FAO 2011). The extant literature identifies several factors that drive wastage in households, but scalable interventions to reduce this wastage remain elusive. We contend that the idiosyncratic nature of households’ behavior in regards purchase, consumption, and wastage makes such interventions difficult, and that an analytical model characterizing these behaviors will be helpful for furthering work in this direction. With this goal, we develop an analytical model incorporating factors (parameters) that influence consumption and wastage in households. While our model applies generally to perishable items including dairy products, we focus on Fresh Fruit and Vegetables (FFV) as it constitutes a large fraction of food wasted in households, even as many people consume far less FFV than the amount recommended for a healthy diet. Using numerical experiments for a range of parameter values obtained from the extant literature and from a survey, we identify the parameter combinations that result in larger volumes of wastage. Our findings will be useful for future research focusing on recommendations for reducing wastage and improving intake of FFV in households.

食物损失和浪费 (FLW) 是人类面临的一个主要问题，为人类消费而种植的所有食物中有三分之一被浪费了。虽然 FLW 发生在食品供应链的每个阶段，但在发达经济体，40% 的浪费发生在家庭中（FAO 2011）。现有文献确定了导致家庭浪费的几个因素，但减少这种浪费的可扩展干预措施仍然难以捉摸。我们认为，家庭在购买、消费和浪费方面的行为的特殊性质使此类干预变得困难，并且表征这些行为的分析模型将有助于进一步朝着这个方向开展工作。为此，我们开发了一个分析模型，其中包含影响家庭消费和浪费的因素（参数）。虽然我们的模型通常适用于包括乳制品在内的易腐烂物品，但我们专注于新鲜水果和蔬菜 (FFV)，因为它构成了家庭浪费的大部分食物，即使许多人消耗的 FFV 远低于建议的健康饮食量. 使用从现有文献和调查中获得的一系列参数值的数值实验，我们确定了导致大量浪费的参数组合。我们的研究结果将有助于未来的研究，重点是减少浪费和改善家庭 FFV 摄入量的建议。使用从现有文献和调查中获得的一系列参数值的数值实验，我们确定了导致大量浪费的参数组合。我们的研究结果将有助于未来的研究，重点是减少浪费和改善家庭 FFV 摄入量的建议。使用从现有文献和调查中获得的一系列参数值的数值实验，我们确定了导致大量浪费的参数组合。我们的研究结果将有助于未来的研究，重点是减少浪费和改善家庭 FFV 摄入量的建议。