Binning, gifting and recovery: The conduits of disposal in household food consumption

This paper explores the movements and placings that work to configure food as waste. At issue here-following the work of Nicky Gregson, Kevin Hetherington, and Rolland Munro-are the multiple conduits that exist for 'moving things along' and the idea that consumption research needs to move beyond the unfortunate conjunction of disposal and waste. I suggest that the disposal of surplus food is enacted via a graduated process in which it first enters a 'gap' where ambiguities and anxieties surrounding its residual value and onward trajectory are addressed. Drawing on ethnographic examples, I explore the shifting contours and gradients that reduce the possibilities for disposing of food through conduits in which it can be handed down, handed around, or otherwise saved from wastage. I also unpack the overwhelming tendency for surplus food to be cast as 'excess' and placed in conduits-typically the bin-that connect it to the waste stream. Crucially, it is suggested that food is a specific genre of material culture and that this underpins the normativity of its binning alongside the attendant prevention of its recirculation or recovery. To conclude, I reflect on the broader implications of this analysis for understandings of consumption, disposal, and waste. © 2012 Pion and its Licensors.