Whether it was bubble and squeak the next night, or a lonely baked potato and slice of meat on a sandwich, we ate them - and ate them and ate them until they were all gone and the bone went to the dog (after we'd given it a good chew ourselves).

If we didn't? Well, we just did if we knew what was good for us.

And most of us carried on the tradition of waste not, want not. Remember the kids growling "not that again" as they eyed the pan full of yesterday's meat, gravy and assorted vegies?

"It was good enough for us," we'd chortle, as the ashen faces looked up mournfully from the kitchen table.

Fast forward to the present and how things have changed. No, not for us. We're still determined to use every last bit of whatever we make.

And that's a fact, because for the third year running baby boomers have earned the distinction of being named Australia's least wasteful generation when it comes to food in Rabobank's food waste report.

According to the report, baby boomers only threw out $430 worth, or 7 per cent, of their food last year.

The report also found they were the generation most likely to be annoyed by their own (87 per cent) or others' (85 per cent) food waste and cared the most about reducing waste (85 per cent).

Generation X members wasted about $838 worth of food - $85 less than in 2017, while members of Generations Z and Y were found to be the most wasteful generation($1200).

The report revealed an overall reduction from $9.6 billion worth of food waste in 2017 to $8.9 billion in 2018 across Australia.

The average Australian household was found to have wasted $890 worth of food, while NSW and WA the most wasteful states.

People living in cities (13 per cent) were slightly more wasteful on average than people living in the country (11 per cent).

The main reason for waste was food going off without being finished, which accounted for 75 per cent of all food waste.

Buying too much during weekly shopping trips (45 per cent) and insufficient meal planning (34 per cent) were major factors contributing to wastage.

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