Region. $603 million in fresh food waste

Sydney households annually throw out $603 million fresh food waste, which is close to the $660 million combined income of all the farms in the metropolitan basin, according to University of Western Sydney's Urban Research Centre, in Parramatta. ''Sydney is such a rich consumer society that it happily throws away in value as much as Sydney farmers receive in income,'' said Professor Phillip O'Neill, director of the centre, in a story in The Sydney Morning Herald. Sydney residents spent about $6.5 billion last year - or more than a third of total household food and beverage budgets - on takeaway, alcohol or dining out, the centre has calculated using ABS figures. This was 36 times what they spent on fresh vegetables grown within the basin, it found.