Barriers, Motivators and Perspectives on Minimizing Lunchtime Food Waste of Early Adolescents in the National School Lunch Program

Abstract

ObjectiveTo determine barriers, motivators and perspectives on minimizing lunchtime food waste of early adolescents in the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) in Hawai'i.MethodsParticipants were early adolescents 9–13 years of age whose parents received SNAP benefits on O'ahu or Hawai'i Island. A semi‐structured interview guide was developed and pilot tested with three participants. An initial codebook was created based on current literature on barriers, motivators and perspectives on minimizing food waste of early adolescents in the US. Interviews were conducted with additional participants (n=27). Following each interview, one researcher (CP) listened to the recorded interview and added new codes to the codebook. Data saturation was achieved when no new codes were identified. All interviews were transcribed and each transcript was coded twice in NVivo using the codebook to ensure no new codes were required. The two coders (CP and KF) then independently collapsed similar codes into higher‐order categories, agreed on a final set, and developed a codebook based on these higher‐order categories. The two coders then coded three transcripts each in NVivo to evaluate interrater reliability and an average Cohen's kappa coefficient of ≥0.8 was achieved. The two coders then coded all transcripts, with an average Cohen's kappa coefficient of ≥0.8. The two coders independently determined key themes and collectively summarized the results.ResultsDislike of the taste of food and school policy were the key barriers to minimizing food waste. Food that did not taste good was left uneaten and thrown into the trash. Participants also reported throwing more food into the trash if they were served versus offered food choices, and if there was no system in place at the school to share uneaten food, compost or give leftovers to animals. Conversely, school policy was a motivator to minimize food waste if schools allowed participants to share, compost or feed their leftovers at lunch to animals. Participants' perspectives on food waste also depended on the taste of the food. They found it acceptable to throw unwanted food into the trash, but unacceptable to discard desirable food. Participants also perceived that their peers did not care about wasting food and that their parents were against food waste.ConclusionImproving the taste of food served at lunch in the NSLP may help reduce food waste and also influence youth to care about wasting food. Schools should regularly monitor and assess the taste of food served and improve the taste if students dislike the food served in the NSLP. Modification of school policy to present students with food choices instead of serving a standard meal and allow students to share, compost or feed leftovers to animals may also reduce waste.Support or Funding InformationThis work was supported by the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture, Hatch project HAW2038‐R, managed by the College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources.