The following article was quoted from www.news.com.au on November 05, 2009 12:01am.

"WASTEFUL Australian households are being advised to avoid shopping when hungry after a study found we throw out at least $5.2 billion worth of food each year.

Fruit and vegetables are turfed most, followed by unfinished restaurant and takeaway meals and fresh meat and fish.

Consumers are being urged to think twice about bulk buy discounts, use plastic containers to store leftovers and write and stick to shopping lists to reduce the amount of food that winds up as rubbish, the Herald Sun reports.

Singles living alone buying over-sized items and territorial flatmates refusing to share their fridge's contents are the biggest offenders, according to new research.

The Australia Institute study for the environmental initiative, Do Something, warns that the mountain of discarded food is taking an environmental toll through millions of tonnes of waste left rotting in landfill and giving off methane gas.

Victorians admitted wasting an average $560 a household and $214 a person - one of the lowest rates in the nation.

While wealthy households in states outside Victoria were more likely to dump food, our rich were less wasteful.

Environmental campaigners blame some retailers for feeding waste through two-for-one deals, clever store designs for impulse buys and free plastic bags.

They want to see a government campaign to reduce the problem as incomes rise and household sizes shrink.

The report, based on an online survey of 1603 consumers last month, says the dollars thrown down the drain are more than the Australian Army budget.

Do Something founder Jon Dee said the annual waste was the equivalent of 150,000 truck loads of garbage."