Heath, nutrition and sustainability are in the core heart of Brazilian consumers’ perception of whole foods utilization

Abstract

Whole food utilization may be an important strategy to mitigate food waste problem, mainly in household, restaurants and food services levels. The present work aims to explore consumers' associations with the topic using the social representation theory and track perceptions with socio-economic profiles. An online survey was performed with 552 volunteers, who provided the first three words/images/feelings that came to their minds when hearing about total utilization of foods. For each citation, individuals scored their importance and attitude (positive/neutral/negative). Categories were organized using the social representation theory and tracked to volunteers’ socio-economic status. Results showed that Sustainability and Health and Nutrition categories are at central core of mental representations. Consciousness was placed in a low importance and high frequency zones; meanwhile Feeding and Hunger in zones of low importance and low frequency. Categories Creativity, Doubt, Positive, Negative, Economy, Residue and Sensorial were in zones of high importance and low frequency. Statistics showed that gender and education level were not related to the categories, conversely to monthly income. Polarity index analysis showed that most of evoked words presented positive connotation, except for the word waste, which presented negative connotation. Thus, total utilization of food is perceived by consumers as a tool for avoiding food waste; and sustainability, health, and nutrition aspects in the dishes of cooks and chefs should be explored as marketing tool, sustainable practices and healthiness.