Household Food Waste Research Articles

Waste watchers: A food waste reduction intervention among households in Arizona

Food waste is a globally significant issue, contributing to financial losses and adversely impacting the environment across the supply chain. In developed countries, the issue is especially problematic among consumers. The present study conducted a novel, evidence-based and theoretically founded household food waste intervention designed to explore how a multifaceted educational approach could impact food waste generated in the home. Households in the City of Phoenix, AZ, USA, were recruited to participate in the study (N = 53). Enrolled participants completed a baseline week, a 5-week intervention, and a follow-up week. Education and strategic information were delivered via a website specifically designed for this study, presenting home strategies for food waste reduction in a variety of formats (e.g. podcasts, infographics, videos). Participants were trained on how to properly collect, weigh, and report their weekly household food waste throughout the duration of the study. Participants also completed a series of surveys on food waste behaviors and behavior change constructs pre- and post- intervention. Household food waste showed a significant decrease from baseline to follow-up (p = .008), from week 1 to follow-up (p = .017), and from week 2 to follow-up (p = .001). Also, a significant improvement in all behavior change constructs was observed (p =0.004 – 0.000) by the end of the study, as well as an association between household food waste and behavior change constructs (rs = -0.28 – -0.42). The present study demonstrated that an educational intervention delivered virtually was effective in reducing food waste by 27.85% among participating households.

Decisional Factors Driving Household Food Waste Prevention: Evidence from Taiwanese Families

Although previous studies have discussed food waste at the household level and the antecedents of food disposal in western countries, very few studies have investigated food waste practices in Asian countries at the household or individual levels. As the food waste issue has drawn considerable concerns, the aim of this study was to examine how moral norms, perceived behavioral control, and food choices affect household food waste under the mediating role of household storing and cooking routines, as well as the moderating role of unplanned events. A questionnaire survey of Taiwanese families eventually obtained 954 valid questionnaires for analysis. Overall model fit and the study hypotheses were tested by structural equation modeling method (SEM). The SEM results showed that household storing and cooking routines significantly mediate the effects of moral norms and food choices on household food waste. Moreover, the moderating effect of unplanned events is statistically significant, indicating that under a higher degree of unplanned events, families are less likely to reduce food waste through household storage practices and cooking routines. Several implications and suggestions are also discussed for the reduction of household food waste.

Consumers and Household Food Waste :

Consumers and Household Food Waste :

Towards Policy Development for Preventing Household Food Waste

Towards Policy Development for Preventing Household Food Waste

Antimicrobial Activity of Musa acuminata Peel Extract against Gram-Positive Bacteria

Particular communities are discarding banana (Musa acuminata) peels as household and industrial food waste. It is high in nutritive value and a healthy source of food to consume. This study aims to evaluate the antimicrobial activity of M. acuminata peels against four types of Gram-positive bacteria, namely, Bacillus cereus, Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus pneumoniae and Streptococcus pyogenes. The extract of M. acuminate peel was prepared using a soxhlet apparatus for ethanolic extract and rotary evaporator to concentrate the ethanolic extract. Antimicrobial activity was carried out on the extract using agar disc diffusion technique; the inhibitory zones were recorded in millimetres. Results showed that the disc diffusion method of ethanolic extract of M. acuminata peel was not effective against all the Gram-positive bacteria strains. This result indicated that M. acuminata peel did not pose any potential antimicrobial effect against Gram-positive bacteria. However, further study should be carried out using different extraction method and concentration in order to evaluate antimicrobial activity.

Evaluation of Household Food Waste Generation in Hanoi and Policy Implications towards SDGs Target 12.3

The issue of food waste, especially in developing economies, is a puzzle. Hanoi was selected as a case study to examine the current situation of food waste generated by consumers through daily habits/practices and to evaluate options for preventing and reducing food waste at the policy level through a literature/policy review and interview-style survey. An analysis of responses found that the self-reported food waste generation rate in Hanoi averaged 1192 g/day/household in urban areas and 1694 g/day/household in rural areas; cooking waste generated during meal processing/preparation accounts for more than 70% of the total; less than 20% of respondents separated out kitchen waste for reuse/recycling before disposal; expiration dates and deteriorating quality were cited as primary reasons for food waste at home in contrast with larger portions and over-ordering outside the home; leftover food is used indirectly as animal feed in urban areas and directly in rural areas; and most respondents indicate a willingness to reduce, reuse, and recycle food waste. To achieve SDG target 12.3, policymakers and practitioners must develop comprehensive food waste policies and actions targeting the entire supply chain, implement practical food waste management systems, and promote sufficiency strategies for saving food, reducing food waste, and maintaining health and well-being.

Can food waste behavior be managed within the B2B workplace and beyond? The roles of quality of green communication and dual mediation paths

Food waste is becoming increasingly a crucial issue to organizations, but little is known about workplace food waste reduction among frontline employees in the business-to-business (B2B) context regardless of the salience of frontline employees with such a behavior as green intermediaries in B2B supply chains. Our research seeks to fill this gap by investigating how and when quality of green communication in the B2B workplace influences frontline employees' workplace and household food waste behavior, as well as the relationship between these two types of food waste behavior among frontline employees. The dataset for this study came from sales employees in manufacturing companies based in Vietnam. The results unveiled the roles of employees' green role identity and harmonious environmental passion as the dual mediation paths for the relationship between quality of green communication and employees' intention to reduce food waste, which in turn attenuated both their workplace and household food waste behavior. The positive relationship was noted between employees' workplace food waste behavior and their household food waste behavior. The results further demonstrated the boundary condition role of household leftovers reuse routines to enhance the link between intention to reduce food waste and food waste behavior. The implications are discussed on initiatives for reducing B2B frontline employees' food waste behavior, thereby transforming them into green agents in B2B supply chains.

A broader perspective on household food waste: A call for encompassing consumers' food related goals, the food system, and the impact of reduction activities

A broader perspective on household food waste: A call for encompassing consumers' food related goals, the food system, and the impact of reduction activities

The household wasteful behaviour framework: A systematic review of consumer food waste

Every year one third of the food produced globally is either lost or wasted along the food supply chain (FSC) causing significant economic, environmental and social damages. In the developed countries household food waste is a major concern, which is manly triggered by poor food-related behaviour. Due to the importance and magnitude of the phenomenon, the UN has set the global goal of halving food loss and waste by 2030. However, to the best of our knowledge, to date no systematic literature review has been conducted on household food waste and little comprehensive explanation has yet been offered for wasteful household behaviour. Therefore, the aim of this study was to carry out a systematic review of the literature produced over an eighteen-year period (2000–2018) in order to gain a deeper understanding of multiple, complex facets of the food waste phenomenon at consumer level. Drawing on the results of the systematic literature review and of the behavioural and marketing theories, we propose a new theoretical framework “The Household Wasteful Behaviour Framework”, with the aim of better explaining food waste behaviour at household level. Results can be useful to better target social norm and educational campaigns both at private and public level.

Food waste: Disapproving, but still doing. An evidence-based intervention to reduce waste at household

This action-research project conducted in partnership with French local public authorities aims at designing an intervention procedure to reduce food waste in households. To broach the complex problem of food waste reduction as a behavioral gap, we compared three interventions: a classical information-based intervention, an awareness-based intervention using a kitchen diary to make people aware of their own waste, and a dissonance-based intervention using principles of cognitive dissonance. Behavioral changes were estimated by weighing food waste and analyzing them (compositional analyses) one week before and after the interventions, and also five weeks later in order to comprehend middle-term effects. Results showed that dissonance-based intervention was the most efficient in actually reducing food waste, but only within a middle-term perspective. This delay could be necessary given the behavioral complexity of the global act of “reducing food waste”, known as the result of multiple and interacting activities taking place at different times and in different contexts.

The potential environmental risks of the utilization of composts from household food waste

Modern technologies (especially with the help of autonomous measurement and control systems) introduced automatic composters for the disposal of household food waste production. Environmental risks connected with the utilization of these composts can be characterized by the high electrical conductivity caused by a presence of sodium chloride in food. Electrical conductivity influences the ecotoxicity of the composts. The presence of pesticides in composted food also represents an important environmental problem. The following pesticides were found in compost samples from household food waste: 1,3,5-triazine, methyl trithion, bifenthrin, bifenox, carbophenothion, pirimicarb, dioxacarb, desmetryn. Pesticide content in composts varied from 0.3 to 16.3μg/kg, the average value being 30.4 ± 10.1μg/kg dry matter. The higher decomposition was found of "modern" pesticides in the composters. The removal of salts can ensure that inhibition will be < 30% while washing with the ratio of 1:3 will result in the inhibition < 5%. However, this way of processing is not effective for other organisms-Poecilia reticulata (mortality 100%) and Daphnia magna (immobilisation 100%) using this procedure as well as washing of the compost in the ratio 3:1.

The Effect of Consumer Perception on Food Waste Behavior of Urban Households in China

Food waste has become a global problem, causing widespread concern in all sectors of society. Many scholars and institutions have researched this issue from different perspectives, but theoretical and empirical research on food waste from the perspective of consumer perception is still limited. Therefore, this study constructs a theoretical framework based on food waste behavior of households and empirically analyzes the effect of consumer perception on food waste by 273 Chinese urban households eating at home. The reliable urban household food waste data are based on a combination of household questionnaire surveys, bookkeeping surveys, weighing surveys, and semi-structured interviews in 2018. The survey site is Zhengzhou City in Henan Province. The results show that the higher urban household consumer perception positive index, the smaller the amount of food waste per capita per meal, and the higher urban household consumer perception negative index, the greater the amount of food waste per capita per meal. These results suggest consumer perception affects urban household food waste behavior significantly. We need to encourage consumers to form a joint effort to change consumer perception about food waste in order to reducing food waste.

Challenges, opportunities, and innovations for effective solid waste management during and post COVID-19 pandemic

The crisis brought upon by the COVID-19 pandemic has altered global waste generation dynamics and therefore has necessitated special attention. The unexpected fluctuations in waste composition and quantity also require a dynamic response from policymakers. This study highlights the challenges faced by the solid waste management sector during the pandemic and the underlying opportunities to fill existing loopholes in the system. The study presents specific cases for biomedical waste, plastic waste, and food waste management - all of which have been a major cause of concern during this crisis. Further, without active citizen participation and cooperation, commingled virus-laden biomedical waste with the regular solid waste stream pose significant negative health and safety issues to sanitation workers. Single-use plastic usage is set to bounce back due to growing concerns of hygiene, particularly from products used for personal protection and healthcare purposes. It is expected that household food waste generation may reduce due to increased conscious buying of more non-perishable items during lockdown and due to concerns of food shortage. However, there is a chance of increase in food waste from the broken supply chains such as food items getting stuck on road due to restriction in vehicle movements, lack of workers in the warehouse for handling the food products, etc. The study also stresses the need for building localized resilient supply chains to counter such situations during future pandemics. While offering innovative solutions to existing waste management challenges, the study also suggests some key recommendations to the policymakers to help handle probable future pandemics if any holistically.

Knowledge, attitudes and practices on household food waste: Bases for formulation of a recycling system

This study assessed the knowledge, attitudes and practices on food waste of selected households in the northern province of the Philippines. The results of the assessment were used as bases for formulation of a recycling system. A total of one hundred rural households were selected using stratified equal allocation sampling technique. Data were collected through the use of researcher-made questionnaire with Cronbach’s Alpha at .82, and was supplemented by observations. Factor analysis, Pearson r, and point-biserial correlation were used to yield findings in the study. Results show that a number of factors discourage the respondents’ participation in the reduction and recycling of food waste, such as lack of facilities, insufficient training, and information dissemination. Household size (r=.199, p<0.05), monthly income (r=.282, p<0.01; r=-.217, p<0.05), and planning (r=-.243, p<0.05) influences the way the participants manage household food waste. On the other hand, age, educational attainment, and sex, do not significantly affect the way the household-participants manage food waste. One strategic and feasible solution is a compulsory food waste recycling system (FWRS) for private households to combat this pressing issue on food waste. This proposed framework is composed of four major moves that require the collaboration of various sectors and stakeholders in the community, and is expected to suggest valuable policy amendments including significant decrease in wastage of consumable agricultural products. Without doubt, the ongoing over generation of food waste is a serious global setback that needs to be urgently addressed.

FEED - Modeling the relationship between education and food waste

Abstract As formed by humans, which are living creatures full of contradictions, our society is characterized as well by lots of paradoxes. One could say that it has never been so wealthy and educated, while others would declare themselves as being grateful for a simple glass of water or a slice of bread, as the world wide abundance of goods and opportunities is counterpointed by deep scarcity, sometimes not too far from the sources of waste. Therefore, quite large amounts of edible food that could have been consumed end up in landfills, thus contributing to environmental pollution and social disparities. Despite many studies conducted in order to better understand the causes of this phenomenon, and although at the EU and UN level some actions were taken in order to reduce consumer food waste, the topic still remains open and it lacks a clear and impactful approach. In this light, we made use of the results of previous studies, and we built the causal model, FEED, based on system dynamics, with the aim to explore the impact of the evolution of educational attainment on the aggregate of household food waste. We then translated the model into the tenet of the dynamic simulation software, TRUE. There was no reinforcing loop displayed by FEED causal loop version, fact aligned with the evolution of our goal-variable when the simulation of the model was run, a result that make us to suspect the possibility of reducing food waste in the foreseeable future.

Household Food Waste and Inefficiencies in Food Production

This paper investigates household food waste in the context of inefficient food production. Food waste is typically defined as the proportion of edible food that goes unconsumed, whereas inefficiency is measured by a household's inability to reach some technically efficient production frontier. Because food waste can be avoided through improved efficiency, we focus on the determinants of inefficiency using unique household- level data on food stock usage and food consumption. We simultaneously estimate the productivity of input usage and the corresponding household-specfic inefficiencies. Inefficiencies are further specified to be a function of observable characteristics. For the general population, we find inefficiencies to be associated with race, age, education, household size, joint preparation of meals, distance traveled to the food store, and food shopping frequency. A latent class model clearly distinguishes two groups of households: a relatively more efficient group (about 16% of the population) and a relatively inefficient group (the remaining 84%). The inefficient group is driving most of the aforementioned results for the general population, and we find relatively little explanatory power of covariates for the inefficient group. Finally, while we find observed food waste to be highly correlated with input-oriented inefficiencies, such that using either outcome leads to similar policy recommendations, their equivalence is dependent upon the estimated reference technology and underlying assumptions.

Consumer awareness campaign to reduce household food waste based on structural equation behavior modeling in Hungary

The aim of this study is to explore behavioral patterns behind household food waste with partial least square structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). Results are based on a quantitative consumer survey with personal interviews. Sample (n = 1002) is representative of the adult population of Hungary in regard to age, sex, and geographical distribution. Statistical analysis included descriptive tests, variance analysis, principal component analysis, factor analysis, and PLS-SEM modeling. Based on multivariate tests, income, age, education, residence, and region were identified as the most influential socio-demographical factors of food wastage. Within the framework of the attitude model, the first PLS-SEM model (normative model) validated that all three—cognitive, affective, and conative—attitude components have an effect on food wastage behavior, but the conative component revealed to be the most important one. This underlines the importance of childhood education and awareness raising to shape routines and behavioral patterns with proper messages and impulses. Based on the second PLS-SEM model (explicative model), cooking too much food was identified as the most prominent pattern that influences food wastage. Contrary to anticipations, unplanned food purchase represented only minor significance. The results provided behavioral insights to a national level food waste prevention campaign in Hungary, called Wasteless (Maradék nélkül). This campaign plays an important role to meet the requirements of new EU legislation on food waste and the recommendations of EU Platform on Food Losses and Food Waste.

Environmental sustainability in the food-energy-water-health nexus: A new methodology and an application to food waste in a circular economy

Current studies on the food-energy-water nexus do not capture effects on human health. This study presents a new methodology for assessing the environmental sustainability in the food-energy-water-health nexus on a life cycle basis. The environmental impacts, estimated through life cycle assessment, are used to determine a total impact on the nexus by assigning each life cycle impact to one of the four nexus aspects. These are then normalised, weighted and aggregated to rank the options for each aspect and determine an overall nexus impact. The outputs of the assessment are visualised in a “nexus quadrilateral” to enable structured and transparent interpretation of results. The methodology is illustrated by considering resource recovery from household food waste within the context of a circular economy. The impact on the nexus of four treatment options is quantified: anaerobic digestion, in-vessel composting, incineration and landfilling. Anaerobic digestion is environmentally the most sustainable option with the lowest overall impact on the nexus. Incineration is the second best option but has a greater impact on the health aspect than landfilling. Landfilling has the greatest influence on the water aspect and the second highest overall impact on the nexus. In-vessel composting is the worst option overall, despite being favoured over incineration and landfilling in circular-economy waste hierarchies. This demonstrates that “circular” does not necessarily mean “environmentally sustainable.” The proposed methodology can be used to guide businesses and policy makers in interpreting a wide range of environmental impacts of products, technologies and human activities within the food-energy-water-health nexus.

Characteristics and Determinants of Domestic Food Waste: A Representative Diary Study across Germany

As it is the case in many industrialized countries, household food waste accounts for a large share of total food waste in Germany. Within this study, the characteristics of edible and inedible domestic food waste, the reasons for discarding food and the potential influence of socio-demographic factors on food waste generation are assessed. A data set of 6853 households who participated in a diary study in 2016 and 2017 was analyzed by use of descriptive statistics, parametric tests, and linear regression. The results indicate that perishable products such as vegetables, fruits, and bread are mainly affected by disposal. Moreover, household food waste occurs due to quantity problems at purchase for small households and quantity problems at home for larger households and households with children. Despite statistically significant differences in food waste amounts between household lifecycle stages, age of the head of household, household size, and size category of the municipality, socio-demographic factors have a limited power in predicting a household’s food waste level. The study has important implications for food waste policy and research regarding the issues of food waste prevention measures, quantification methodologies, and monitoring implementation.

Association between diet quality and food waste in Canadian families: a cross-sectional study

BackgroundHigher diet quality has been associated with greater amounts of food waste among adults in the United States. This study aims to build on previous work by examining the association between diet quality and food waste, as assessed using detailed waste audits, among a sample of Canadian families.MethodsThis cross-sectional study used data from 85 Canadian families with young children. Parent and children diet quality was assessed using the Healthy Eating Index-2015 (HEI-2015), calculated from 3-day food records. Household food waste was measured using detailed waste audits conducted over multiple weeks and these data were used to calculate daily per capita food waste. Linear regression was used to explore the association between parent and child HEI-2015 scores and daily per capita total avoidable and unavoidable food waste, as well as daily per capita avoidable and unavoidable food waste in the following categories: 1) fruits and vegetables, 2) milk, cheese and eggs, 3) meat and fish, 4) breads and cereals, 5) fats and sugars.ResultsParent HEI-2015 scores ranged from 37 to 92 (out of 100) and 81% of parents’ diets scored in the “Needs Improvement (51-80)” category. Parent and child diet quality scores were significantly correlated (r = 0.61; P < 0.0001) and 82% of children’s diets scored in the “Needs Improvement” category. On average, households produced 107 g of avoidable food waste and 52 g of unavoidable food waste per person per day. Fruits and vegetables were the highest contributor for both avoidable and unavoidable food waste. Both parent and child HEI-2015 scores were not significantly associated with total daily per capita avoidable or unavoidable food waste. However, parent HEI-2015 scores were positively associated with daily per capita avoidable fruit and vegetable waste (Unstandardized β = 1.05; 95%CI: 0.11, 1.99; P = 0.03) and daily per capita unavoidable fruit and vegetable waste (Unstandardized β = 0.60; 95%CI: 0.03, 1.17; P = 0.04), after adjusting for household income.ConclusionThis is the first study to explore the association between diet quality and food waste using detailed waste audits. Future research should explore effective strategies towards improving diet quality while simultaneously reducing food waste, especially of fruits and vegetables.