Household Food Waste Research Articles

“Waste not and stay at home” evidence of decreased food waste during the COVID-19 pandemic from the U.S. and Italy

The COVID-19 pandemic has profoundly disrupted household food purchasing and preparation, including elements identified as important drivers of household food waste. The two main aims of this study were (1) to examine changes in food waste behaviors since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in the U.S. and Italy; and (2) to investigate potential predictors of food waste behavior, including avoidance of supermarkets, increased home cooking, and increased role of health concerns in food choices. A sample of n = 478 (79% female) individuals from the U.S., mean (SD) age = 30.51 (10.85), and n = 476 individuals from Italy, (78% female), mean (SD) age = 33.84 (12.86), completed an online survey between April 8th and April 28th 2020. Just under half of respondents (49%) reported decreased food waste since the start of the pandemic. Rates were significantly higher among the U.S. sample (61.5%, n = 294) compared to the Italian sample (38%, n = 180). Controlling for the time since restrictions were introduced, age, gender, and perceived financial security, logistic regression revealed greater reduction in food waste since the beginning of the pandemic for U.S. individuals relative to participants from Italy (OR = 0.47, p < .001). In addition, increased importance of health concerns when making food choices (OR = 1.34, p < .005) as well as more frequent cooking (OR = 1.35, p < .001), and greater avoidance of supermarkets (OR = 1.15, p = .049) were associated with greater probability of less food waste. Scarcity and greater reliance on cooking may encourage individuals to reflect on food waste practices. Further research should explore how these factors may be targeted to reduce food waste beyond the pandemic.

Purchase of food in large packages in the aspect of food waste in Poland

Food waste has become one of the top issues for individuals and organisations involved in food marketing and food policy. The presence of food waste and ways to reduce food waste has generated debate among industry stakeholders, policymakers and consumer groups. One of the key reasons for food waste in households is not consuming the product in a timely manner, which results in its deterioration or expiration. In the article, the authors presented the results of the research on purchasing and consumption behaviour in the food market in Poland, with particular emphasis on buying products in large packaging. The survey results show that in Poland only 1/4 of consumers who buy food in large packages consume the entire product. A relatively high percentage (35%) of the respondents declared that they throw away the purchased product. This is very disturbing behaviour leading to food wastage.

Purchase of food in large packages in the aspect of food waste in Poland

Food waste has become one of the top issues for individuals and organisations involved in food marketing and food policy. The presence of food waste and ways to reduce food waste has generated debate among industry stakeholders, policymakers and consumer groups. One of the key reasons for food waste in households is not consuming the product in a timely manner, which results in its deterioration or expiration. In the article, the authors presented the results of the research on purchasing and consumption behaviour in the food market in Poland, with particular emphasis on buying products in large packaging. The survey results show that in Poland only 1/4 of consumers who buy food in large packages consume the entire product. A relatively high percentage (35%) of the respondents declared that they throw away the purchased product. This is very disturbing behaviour leading to food wastage.

Dimensions of Household Food Waste in Turkey

Food waste creates an increasing concern at the global level and searching methods how to solve food waste is also a significantly increasing. Finding adequate solutions and implementing is only possible through defining the problem. To solve a complicated problem like food waste which interests large population and has different kind of features for each product is a time consuming. At this point, revealing food waste at the different stages is important. The biggest share from the waste is taken by households. This study covers the analyses results of the surveys conducted in 3 big cities in different geographic region in order to identify household food waste’s level in Turkey. Totally 1155 surveys were conducted in Erzurum, ?zmir and Adana in June 2016 and 2017. In addition to food waste, its perception, food purchase and store behaviors of the consumers were investigated. The results show that households wasted about 7.5 tones food during the month surveys carried out. Only 180 families out of 1155 had no food waste and this number is higher in Erzurum. The highest food waste was observed in Adana where it was 823 kg per week while it was 652 kg in Erzurum and 393 kg in ?zmir.

Adapting, refining and expanding a validated questionnaire to measure food waste in U.S. households

The Household Food Waste Questionnaire (van Herpen et al. 2019a) was developed and validated as an effective instrument to identify statistically significant differences between households and to distinguish trends in household food waste over time. The original instrument was validated using consumers sampled from several European countries. We conduct a pilot study with U.S. consumers using the revised questionnaire. We find that a sample of 150 online panelists provided sufficient statistical power to replicate standard findings from the literature that smaller households and older respondents generate less food waste, but not enough statistical power to identify a statistically significant week-to-week reduction in reported food waste among households who received a food waste message rather than a control message. Power analysis conducted via bootstrapping with the pilot data suggests a usable sample size of 180 per group is required. In our study, we adapted the questionnaire for use with consumers in the United States by:•Adjusting food category descriptions and converting food quantity benchmarks to units and amounts more familiar to U.S. consumers.•Refining several elements to the questionnaire, including the addition of a visual guide to help respondents better estimate food quantities.•Expanding the approach by adding a second follow up questionnaire that permits assessment of within household changes over consecutive weeks.

THRIFTLESSNESS AND FOOD WASTE IN HOUSEHOLDS IN POLAND WITH PARTICULAR REFERENCE TO THE PODKARPACKIE VOIVODESHIP

This article investigates the phenomenon of food waste and thriftlessness in Polish households. The authors attempted to determine the extent of thriftlessness and food waste on international, regional, and local scales. Research on food waste was carried out from December 1, 2020, to January 31, 2021, in the Podkarpackie Voivodeship. A questionnaire was used to conduct the research. Three hundred and ten respondents from towns and villages located in the Podkarpackie Voivodeship of various ages and levels of education took part in this study. The research methods used were a diagnostic survey and an analysis of the literature. The survey was conducted in a written interview, while the research tool was a questionnaire. Research shows that the number of people who admitted to throwing away food is constantly increasing. This trend is expected to continue, and food waste will increase rapidly. Therefore, all possible countermeasures should be taken to draw consumers’ attention to the problem of food waste and how it can be reduced. This study contributes to the literature on food waste around the world by demonstrating the problem occurring at global and local levels. The research and conclusions may determine future research directions and provide the basis for larger-scale research (both in terms of the number of respondents and the area of research).

Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practice of Housewives As Members of the Environmental Community Against Household Food Waste Management

The amount of food waste is a serious problem. That will happen to an imbalance in the food supply chain. The role of housewives is very important for food waste management. Leftover food that became important waste managed creatively and innovatively. Incorrect information by housewives will result in food waste that is still suitable for consumption in the garbage. This research analyzes the knowledge, attitudes, and practice of housewives who are members of the environmental community towards food waste produced in the household by the qualitative method. Data collection through questionnaires, participant observation, and in-depth interviews and comparing the results of the three analyzes in a balanced manner. The sample consisted of 25 housewives. The results of the study state that knowledge, attitudes and practice affect the results of each participant's food waste.

The degree and influencing factors of household food waste in China from the perspective of food conversion: An empirical analysis based on CHNS database

The degree and influencing factors of household food waste in China from the perspective of food conversion: An empirical analysis based on CHNS database

Urban household food waste: drivers and practices in Toronto, Canada

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to understand determinants of food waste through analysing patterns of practices including shopping, planning, consumption of leftovers and attitudes around best-before dates.Design/methodology/approachA survey and waste composition analysis of 142 households was conducted in the City of Toronto. Bivariate analyses and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) using a structural equation model were used to identify relationships between per capita food waste, household socio-demographic characteristics and household food practices.FindingsConstructs related to planning practices and best-before date practices were identified through the CFA. Household size and the best-before construct were negatively correlated with per capita food waste. The planning construct had no correlation, which may be attributed to the influence of the retail environment in encouraging unplanned purchases. The best-before construct was significantly correlated with the presence of children in the home, an indicator of the compromises that parents make in domestic provisioning to ensure healthy foods for their children, such as more caution in handling items after their best-before dates.Originality/valueThis is the first study of its kind that uses directly measured per capita food waste from a waste composition study in a structural equation model with a construct related to best-before dates to determine drivers of food waste. It is also the first to find that children in the home can have an indirect influence on food waste through the household's best-before practices.

Understanding Behavior of Household Food Waste Management: Food Waste Hierarchy Context

The determinant factor identification of behavior considers as an important means in order to develop effective intevention towards household waste management in Indonesia. This study extended the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) by using the following construct: intention, attitude, subjective norm, perceive behavioral control, government intervention, environmental knowledge and awareness, as well as household planning and buying habit; to understand household waste management behavior from the ‘reduce-reuse-recycle’ point of view. The structural equation modeling (SEM) were used in this study and the result showed that the model accounted for relatively substantial amount (61.7%) of the variance in intention, with the attitude, subjective norm, and environmental knowledge and awareness emerge as significant predictor. Above findings could be used by both governmental and non-governmental organization to formulate strategies to manage food waste at the household level.

Research round-up: sustainable nutrition.

A way to estimate household food waste, the unintended consequences of environmental interventions and other highlights from research. A way to estimate household food waste, the unintended consequences of environmental interventions and other highlights from research.

Public attitude to food waste: the case of Lithuania

The purpose of the research is to investigate consumers’ perception concerning food wastage and their awareness of economic, social and environmental costs concerning the issue. The research focused on the concept of food waste in context of consumers’ attitude regarding this problem. Comparative analysis, synthesis and evaluation of scientific literature and legal documents, statistical data collection and analysis was performed together with the results of on-line survey of 500 households representing 1494 inhabitants from all Lithuanian counties. Data was analysed using statistical package for the social sciences (SPSS): descriptive statistics, frequencies, crosstabs. Lithuanians discard relatively small amounts of wholesome edible food in comparison with averages for EU 27, but most of them have the limited knowledge of the meaning of “best-before” dates, consumers are strongly influenced by retail promotions, and wasting food for them is primarily associated with a waste of money. State waste management policy is focused on waste sorting, while this research provides the evidence that households are insufficiently informed about economic, social and environmental costs concerning food waste. This underlines the necessity to review the current state policy with emphasis on public education as an important factor in minimizing household food waste. Lithuanians recognize that the consumers are mostly responsible for food waste, but food wasting is treated mainly as financial lost. The added value of this article is the proposal to create information campaigns that will cause a sense of guilt for food squandering.

Impact of Covid-19 on Household Food Waste: The Case of Italy.

Covid-19 has significantly affected people's food purchasing and consumption habits. Fears of disruptions in the food supply chain have caused an increase in the quantity and type of food bought by households. However, increases in food purchases could give rise to food waste with negative ramifications for the environment in terms of greenhouse emissions and groundwater pollution. To assess whether household food waste has changed during Covid-19 lockdown, we conducted a nationwide survey of household food purchasers in Italy. Although the amount of food purchases increased during the lockdown, our results show that food waste actually decreased as people mainly bought more non-perishable food. Interestingly, concerns about the impact that the pandemic could have on the waste management system and the desire not to add pressure to the waste management system are key drivers of decreased food waste in Italy during the pandemic. Our findings seem to suggest that Italian consumers are developing a new level of awareness about food waste with potential positive impacts on the environment in terms of reducing greenhouse gas emissions and groundwater pollution.

Itelligent food saver

This paper presents an example of good practice, a project developed by a group of high school students together with their science teachers. “Intelligent Food Saver” is an autonomous robot developed as a solution of one of the major problems related to food waste in households. Its multiple functions such as storage of perishable food, choose the aliments depending on the recipes selected, suggest recipes which can provide an optimum caloric content for a week or suggest recipes depending on the expiry date of the aliments lead us to believe that it can be an alternative for food waste. We consider that “Intelligent Food saver” is a result of a scientific research that combines computer – based education and hands-on-learning.

Editorial and News

Editorial and News

Influence of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Household Food Waste Behavior in Japan

The 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic had various influences on people’s ordinary lives, including their thoughts and behaviors related to food consumption. Food waste has been cited as a serious issue with environmental, social, and economic consequences. In this study, we investigated how the COVID-19 pandemic altered the social consciousness and behavior related to food waste in Japan. We conducted a nationwide online-based survey and collected a cross-sectional dataset from 1959 adult respondents. The results showed that people in regions highly impacted by the pandemic reported a clearer understanding of the situation of their household food waste, more careful food preparation and purchasing, and were more strongly influenced to change their behaviors due to COVID-19. Further analyses revealed that thoughts and behaviors related to food waste significantly differed by sociodemographic characteristics, such as gender, household size, and employment status. This study also implied that the COVID-19 pandemic encouraged some improvements in peoples’ behaviors and thoughts with regard to food, such as paying attention to food waste, making efforts to reduce food waste, and attempting cooking by themselves at home.

Comparison of two measures for assessing the volume of food waste in Swiss households

The huge amount of food wasted at the consumer or household level has severe environmental and economic consequences. In the present work, we compared two self-report measures for the assessment of food waste quantities at the household level in Switzerland. Participants (N = 223) were asked to complete an online food waste questionnaire (FWQ), in which they were instructed to report the average amount of food waste produced in their households. In the second step, participants were asked to maintain a food waste diary (FWD) for 21 days. They were instructed to write down all food waste items, including their relative amounts, as well as the reason and method for their disposal. Using correlation and regression analyses, we found that the amount of food waste reported on the FWQ and in the FWD were highly correlated, revealing similar patterns in terms of their psychological predictors. In the context of the range of different methods available for the assessment of household food waste, our study has provided valuable insights into two of the most used self-report measures. Similarities between and limitations of the methods have also been discussed. This knowledge can be used to contextualise the available results, to design future studies, and ultimately, to help develop intervention strategies to reduce household food waste.

A step in the journey to food waste: How and why mealtime surpluses become unwanted

This paper explores how and why Saudi householders designate mealtime leftovers as unwanted, thereby making them more likely to become waste. The paper argues that although over-provisioning is cited as one of the main antecedents for food waste, food becomes unwanted before it becomes waste and the designation of over-provisioned food as unwanted is an important but neglected driver of food waste. The study draws on in-depth interviews with 28 Saudi women to reveal four main reasons for the classification of leftovers as unwanted. First, food touched by others, such as plate leftovers, is perceived as unclean because it fosters feelings of disgust. The causes of this disgust are related to changes in social norms of eating. Second, clean leftovers are seen as less desirable for hedonistic reasons because they do not provide the same sensory eating experience as fresh food. Third, the rejection of leftovers might be related to the implications of rising levels of affluence for the attractiveness of leftovers. Lastly, food becomes unwanted as a result of social norms regarding eating home-cooked food outside the home. This highlights the possible influence of norms on the wider issue of food waste. These findings illustrate the circumstances in which food is categorized as unwanted and underline the significance of social and hedonistic factors. Such findings help us to better tackle the issue of food waste by providing in-depth insights into an important part of the journey between over-provisioning and food waste. The findings also strengthen the scarce literature on food waste in Arabic and other Islamic countries and highlight underlying normative and cultural aspects in such countries that are relevant to the issue of household food waste.

Progress and Challenges in Empirical Food Waste Research: A Commentary on “Estimating Food Waste as Household Production Inefficiency,” and “Household Food Waste and Inefficiencies in Food Production”

American Journal of Agricultural EconomicsVolume 103, Issue 1 p. 22-25 Lead Article Comment Progress and Challenges in Empirical Food Waste Research: A Commentary on “Estimating Food Waste as Household Production Inefficiency,” and “Household Food Waste and Inefficiencies in Food Production” Brian E. Roe, Brian E. RoeSearch for more papers by this author Brian E. Roe, Brian E. RoeSearch for more papers by this author First published: 08 November 2020 https://doi.org/10.1111/ajae.12163 Brian E. Roe, Van Buren Professor, Ohio State University. Read the full textAboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditWechat Volume103, Issue1January 2021Pages 22-25 RelatedInformation

Using discrete event simulation to explore food wasted in the home

ABSTRACT Food waste is an issue of global importance. Households generate more food waste than any other source in high- and middle-income countries. There are many solutions to reduce household food waste, but measurement of the impact of each solution is costly, and therefore usually not undertaken. This is a major barrier to decision makers adopting the most effective solutions. Discrete event simulation (DES) modelling is ideally placed to overcome these problems. This paper presents the most developed application of DES to household food waste to date: The Household Simulation Model (HHSM). The HHSM has the flexibility to model several food items. It includes many household dynamics that can affect food waste (e.g., purchasing, storage, consumption). The HHSM simulates a range of household types to reflect the diversity of the population in question (for this paper, the United Kingdom). This paper demonstrates the innovation of the HHSM: it provides a framework allowing different types of evidence to be brought together to help understand how food waste is influenced by a range of factors. To illustrate its usefulness, we provide an analysis of six potential interventions to reduce milk waste, covering both product innovation and behaviour change.