Poised for Change: University Students Are Positively Disposed toward Food Waste Diversion and Decrease Individual Food Waste after Programming.

Manar A Alattar,Jennifer L Morse

doi:10.3390/foods10030510

Manar A Alattar, Jennifer L Morse

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/foods10030510

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Abstract

Eaters (consumers of food) are responsible for 60% of waste along the food cycle in developed countries. Programs that target individual and household food waste behavior change are essential to addressing such waste. School cafeterias worldwide offer an opportune microcosm in which to educate on food and nutrition skills and change related behavior. No Scrap Left Behind, a cafeteria food waste diversion program, was developed, piloted, and assessed based on measures of both direct and indirect food waste behavior, and attitudes, knowledge, and emotions related to food waste. Participants had positive attitudes towards food waste reduction, engaged in food waste diversion actions, had some knowledge of the impacts of wasted food, and considered their actions important to waste reduction generally. Food waste per student was decreased by 28% over the course of the first year of programming (p = 0.000967), and by 26% in the following year when measured a week before and a week after programming occurred (p = 0.0218). Results indicate that students were poised for food behavior change and that related programming did impact behavior in the short term. Programming may, therefore, help improve student attitudes and skills to develop long-term change as well, although future research should explore this specifically. In comparison with other research on cafeteria programming, results suggest that food waste diversion programming can positively impact students’ dispositions and behaviors, and may be more effective when tailored to the specific population.

Highlights

Results from the two measurement approaches became similar by the end of the year. These results suggest that social desirability bias likely impacted student food waste behavior when they were first introduced to the No Scrap Left Behind program and volunteers [50]
Student food waste generation decreased by over one-fourth both within one term and over one year of the No Scrap Left Behind programming
Students’ knowledge, attitudes, emotions, and reported behaviors related to food waste reduction were relatively positive

Summary

Introduction

Wasted food is a symptom of inefficiencies in the use of human, natural, economic, and political resources globally during food production and consumption [1,2]. Food system inefficiencies must be addressed holistically, and education is one important tool among others for decreasing food waste and improving the footprint and overall justice of the global food system [3,4]. Educational institutions worldwide have recognized their ability to encourage food waste reduction and improve their own measures of institutional sustainability through campus food diversion programming [5,6,7,8]. Waste audits of university campuses identify food, representing one-fourth or more of all campus solid waste in some cases, as a primary opportunity for solid waste reduction [8,10]

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