Tackle Food Waste Research Articles

Citizen participation in food systems policy making: A case study of a citizens’ assembly

In this article, we offer a contribution to the emerging debate on the role of citizen participation in food system policy making. A key driver is a recognition that solutions to complex challenges in the food system need the active participation of citizens to drive positive change. To achieve this, it is crucial to give citizens the agency in processes of designing policy interventions. This requires authentic and reflective engagement with citizens who are affected by collective decisions. One such participatory approach is citizen assemblies, which have been used to deliberate a number of key issues, including climate change by the UK Parliament’s House of Commons (House of Commons., 2019). Here, we have undertaken analysis of a citizen food assembly organized in the City of York (United Kingdom). This assembly was a way of hearing about a range of local food initiatives in Yorkshire, whose aim is to both relocalise food supply and production, and tackle food waste. These innovative community-based business models, known as ‘food hubs’, are increasing the diversity of food supply, particularly in disadvantaged communities. Among other things, the assembly found that the process of design and sortation of the assembly is aided by the involvement of local stakeholders in the planning of the assembly. It also identified the potential for public procurement at the city level, to drive a more sustainable sourcing of food provision in the region. Furthermore, this citizen assembly has resulted in a galvanizing of individual agency with participants proactively seeking opportunities to create prosocial and environmental change in the food system.

Systematic literature review of best practice in food waste reduction programs

Purpose Food waste is a systemic problem, with waste occurring at all stages in the supply chain and consumption process. There is a need to unpack which strategies, approaches and tools can be applied to reduce the amount of food wasted. Understanding the extent of social marketing principles used offers insights into the additional means that can be applied to increase voluntary behavioral change. Design/methodology/approach Following preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses guidelines, a systematic quantitative literature review was undertaken focused on outcome evaluation studies conducted since 2000. Six databases were examined, and cross rating was used to identify previous programs tackling food waste behavior at a household level. A total of 23 programs were analyzed against 8 social marketing components. Findings Overall, only 2 out of 23 food waste programs self-identified as social marketing programs. A lack of application of social marketing elements was observed across all studies, indicating a tendency to implement non-voluntary change approaches. The most commonly targeted behaviors were source-separation. Personal interaction involved the distribution of information in person (typically through door knocking). Personal interaction strategies were identified as the most effective program techniques. Program effectiveness was greater when the social marketing components of behavioral change, theory and marketing mix were used, indicating the potential for voluntary approaches to be applied more in the future. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, the current study was the first systematic literature review to examine the extent of social marketing application in food waste programs reported in peer-reviewed academic literature using eight components of social marketing. The study revealed behavioral change was more likely when more social marketing components were used. Future research is recommended to consider the application of full range of social marketing elements to extend beyond involuntary approaches, which can be subjected to criticism from community.

What gets measured gets managed – Or does it? Connection between food waste quantification and food waste reduction in the hospitality sector

Abstract One innovation developed to tackle food waste in professional catering units is different versions of smart scales and softwares designed to simplify food waste quantification. The intention with this is to managing meal production more efficiently based on previous outcomes. However, quantification can be performed in different ways and having a catering unit quantify its food waste does not necessarily guarantee a reduction. Therefore this study sought to identify factors that could make food waste quantification more efficient in terms of waste reduction, and to determine the waste reduction payoff from more ambitious quantification set-ups. Data on 735 hotels, restaurants, and canteens in Europe, especially Sweden and Norway, that use a spreadsheet, a dedicated scale, or an internet-based service to track food waste were analyzed and parameters describing initial waste, number of guests and length, resolution, and completeness of quantification were determined. These parameters were then compared against the waste reduction achieved, in order to test their influence. It was found that 61% of the catering units studied had reduced their waste and that initial mass of waste per guest was the most influential factor for waste reduction. Catering units using more automated quantification tools recorded more data and reduced their food waste by slightly more, but also had a higher level of initial waste and therefore a greater opportunity for reduction. From this, it can be concluded that prioritizing catering units with the greatest waste volume could be an efficient strategy to reduce overall food waste in the most cost-efficient way.

Return to sender: a behavioural approach to reducing food waste in schools

ABSTRACTWaste is an inherent part of the global food system, with significant environmental, social and economic impacts. Rather than simply managing its disposal, addressing the food waste challenge in Australia requires engagement with consumers to encourage behaviours that reduce wastage. This exploratory case study utilised a behavioural approach to identify and prioritise food waste reduction behaviours in Western Australian schools and then analysed these behaviours from the perspective of key target audiences. This enabled appropriate interventions to be proposed for testing. It offers a targeted approach to tackle food waste in schools and the wider community.

Food-derived carbonaceous materials for solar desalination and thermo-electric power generation

How to tackle food waste (FW) by means of advanced treatments with less carbon emission and high added-value has become a formidable challenge that human society has to face in the future. Herein, we present a sustainable way of repurposing FW that not only mitigates carbon emission but also turns FW as highly porous carbon-based photothermal materials for low-cost solar desalination and thermoelectric (TE) generation. Different FWs have been extensively studied for the desired purposes, and the carbonaceous FWs exhibit outstanding potential and versatility in the highlighted applications with high performance achieved (solar efficiency: 84.1%, TE power output: 0.4 Wm-2). This strategy of reusing FW holds immeasurable benefits for a sustainable society and is of tremendous significance to future FW management and material science due to the low cost and great abundance, which is able to serve in tackling global issues like the water- and energy-crisis.

The who, where and why of choosing suboptimal foods: Consequences for tackling food waste in store

Food stores have begun to tackle food waste at the point of sale. They do so by selling ‘suboptimal’ food before it is wasted, typically with a price reduction. However, efficiency of this food waste avoidance action can be improved by knowing for which product category, which store type, which accompanying communication, and which consumer characteristics this action works best. This study uses an experimental online survey conducted in five North western European countries to investigate the effect of communication appealing to either self- or others-centred motives in either supermarkets or farmers' markets, for packaged and for fresh food. It is found that both messages – communicating budget saving or an emotional appeal - are effective in increasing choice likelihood. Store type affects choice likelihood of suboptimal packaged, while others-centred values and trust in the store affects choice likelihood for suboptimal fresh food. Communication improves quality perception of suboptimal fresh food. Findings imply that fresh suboptimal foods lend themselves more to be promoted with others-centred messages, or to be targeted at consumers with others-centred values. Sales of suboptimal food in the store should be accompanied by communication, and such efforts to tackle food waste in the store should focus on fresh food in particular.

The Farm Bill Looks to Tackle Food Loss and Waste

The Farm Bill Looks to Tackle Food Loss and Waste

Domestic spaces and beyond: Consumer food waste in the context of shopping and storing routines

AbstractTo significantly reduce the volumes of food currently wasted in industrialized countries, tackling food waste on the household level is paramount. While awareness campaigns and economic incentives are important measures, it is crucial to look beyond individual decision making and scrutinize how contextual factors frame consumer lifestyles in ways that intensify the issue of food going to waste. This paper addresses the role of material contexts—in particular, infrastructures and technologies—in the shaping of food shopping and storing practices and thus consumer food waste. It presents an in‐depth, qualitative study with 24 Austrian households, conducted from November 2016 to February 2017. Data were collected through food waste diaries, semi‐structured interviews and a total of 16 focus group discussions. In line with other studies, we find that food waste is a largely unintended outcome of entangled daily routines revolving around food, such as meal planning, grocery shopping and food storing. The characteristics of food retail infrastructures—in terms of accessibility, density and type—shape these routines and thus potentially influence excess food purchases. Food storing practices as well depend on the characteristics of domestic infrastructures and co‐evolve with technologies used for storing food. Unraveling the interconnectivity between material contexts and household food practices can inform policy, product design and food retail development and thus has implications for reducing consumer food waste.

Sustainable waste management through synergistic utilisation of commercial and domestic organic waste for efficient resource recovery and valorisation in the UK

The UK is facing tremendous challenges in tackling food waste diversion from landfill. Whilst much effort has been made to prevent food waste, there is still a lack of attention and strategic approach in dealing with resource recovery and valorisation of food waste. This paper presents a systematic framework for sustainable organic waste management and valorisation in the UK through (i) review of current policy framework; (ii) analysis of resource recovery potential from food waste at national, community and organisational levels; (iii) proposition of alternative waste management strategies; and (iv) examination of challenges and opportunities with respect to economic, environment and social dimensions of sustainability of waste management strategies. The paper explores valorisation of source-segregated food waste and mixed waste from the supermarket and households into electricity and transportation fuels, through partially and completely decentralised configurations using anaerobic digestion and gasification technologies. This study demonstrates a potential for reducing the cost of electricity and greenhouse gas emissions of one supermarket store by 12% when adopting partially decentralised food waste anaerobic digestion strategy, and full substitution of fossil fuel based electricity with net surplus renewable electricity generation through complete decentralisation of mixed waste gasification. Therefore, a more integrated, circular and advanced technological approach in waste management should be undertaken as it can lead to a wider range of socio-economic and environmental advantages to the local community, highly essential in the UK.

Food Routes: Growing Bananas in Iceland and Other Tales from the Logistics of Eating Food Routes: Growing Bananas in Iceland and Other Tales from the Logistics of Eating Robyn Metcalfe MIT Press, 2019. 205 pp.

This week on the Science podcast, food historian and futurist Robyn Metcalfe discusses how climate change and human migration are affecting food logistics, how scientists and engineers are tackling food waste, and the perils of incorporating too much technology into the food supply chain.

Household food waste in an emerging country and the reasons why: Consumer´s own accounts and how it differs for target groups

A major share of food waste is caused in consumer households. Globally, this share is expected to increase with growing middle classes in emerging countries. Consumer behaviour factors causing food waste differ across the various food handling stages from purchase to use, as well as for the individual and the specific situation in question. In order to tackle food waste in the household, knowledge on the type of food wasted, the cause of waste, and the situation in which it occurs is needed for different target groups. Little research so far has studied household consumer related food waste in emerging countries. This study explored food waste in consumer´s own accounts of a recent food waste incident in 540 Uruguayan households. It used a mixed-method approach composed of open-ended questions, which were analysed using content analysis. Differences in the frequency of mention of the identified categories between socioeconomic and sociodemographic groups were analysed. Results showed that leftovers and fresh vegetable and fruit were the categories most consumers recall wasting, and indicated that sub-optimality and prolonged storage were major reasons for discarding food. The higher the socioeconomic group, the greater the likelihood of wasting fresh produce, and the more often due to sub-optimality. Findings imply that avoidable food waste might increase with affluence levels. Public policies or collaborative public-private information or intervention campaigns directed at consumer households can more effectively contribute to decreasing food waste if targeted at the most relevant categories and causes of food waste.

The Impact of Social Norms on Suboptimal Food Consumption: A Solution for Food Waste

Consumers seem to have a reduced preference to buy fruits and vegetables with unusual appearance, products with damaged package and close to the expiration date, usually called suboptimal food products. However, this pattern of behavior is an important contributor to food waste levels. Interventions aimed at encouraging the purchase of suboptimal food are scarce, however, needed. Across two studies, we investigated the effect of social norms in driving suboptimal food consumption. Additionally, it was tested if food waste problem awareness is the underlying mechanism in the relationship between social norms and intention to buy suboptimal food. Results show that appeals employing social norms positively affect purchases intentions toward the products. Moreover, food waste problem awareness mediates the effect of social norms on intentions to purchase the product with an unusual appearance. We discuss how social norms can be used to tackle food waste and implications for marketing and policy actions.

Commercial and Anti-Hunger Sector Views on Local Government Strategies for Helping to Manage Food Waste

In the United States, 40% of all food intended for human consumption is lost or wasted. This has economic, environmental, and social consequences and equity concerns that justify the involvement of local governments. In addition, local governments are well positioned to support the systems-level innovations and systems- and equity-oriented approaches necessary for bringing together various sectors to tackle food waste issues. However, little is known about how food-generating businesses and anti-hunger agencies think local governments and public agencies could work with them to address food waste through source reduction (i.e., prevention) and feeding hungry people. These are the top two methods for waste reduction as outlined in U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)’s Food Recovery Hierarchy. Using qualitative interviews, this study presents the key challenges and facilitators of multiple Seattle-based anti-hunger agencies (n=8) and food-generating businesses (n=12) to addressing food waste prevention, recovery, and composting. This study also addresses how anti-hunger agencies and food-generating businesses interrelate within and between the two sectors. Interviewees also provided sector views on the potential roles of local government in this space. Strategies recommended for local governments included: (1) committing resources that enable a systems approach. This can be accomplished by dedicating a staff or office to food waste issues, designating funding that is specific to food waste, incorporating equity and inclusivity, and serving as a convener of stakeholders; (2) helping to standardize metrics and normalize waste audits. These practices are essential for understanding and scaling work within and between sectors, for measuring progress toward goals or fluctuations in the system, and for identifying priorities; and (3) supporting the optimal operation of the emergency food system by helping improve infrastructure and efficiency.

Pet Food as the Most Concrete Strategy for Using Food Waste as Feedstuff within the European Context: A Feasibility Study

Food loss and waste have a negative environmental impact due to the water, land, energy and other natural resources used to produce the wasted food, along with post-consumption disposal costs. Reducing food waste will thus help improve sustainability and decrease the environmental impact of the food system. Using food waste for animal feed is of growing importance in terms of the policies targeted at tackling food waste but the current legal framework in the European Union (EU) strongly restricts the possibility of using food waste for this purpose. The aim of this work is to evaluate the feasibility of innovative measures for feed production in the EU and to identify the best strategies to implement them. First, a technical evaluation of a case study is presented, which is a process developed in the United States for urban food waste transformation into animal feed. Second, there is an analysis of the potential application of this process in the European Union within the current legal framework. The results reveal that the feed product derived from food waste is compliant with EU safety requirements and is nutritionally valuable. This work also suggests that the implementation of this kind of process in the European Union has great potential, provided that food surplus is recovered and treated before it turns into waste and that the different types of food surplus identified are used as feed for the right animal type in accordance with European legislation (i.e., livestock, aquarium fish, pets). On these terms, pet food can be the most concrete strategy for using food waste within the European context. In general, the implementation of feed-from-food measures to reduce food waste in Europe is already possible and does not need to wait for further policy interventions.

Does food sharing lead to food waste reduction? An experimental analysis to assess challenges and opportunities of a new consumption model

Abstract Food security, along with growing population and the associated environmental concerns, make food waste and loss a central topic in economic analysis. While food losses occur mostly at the production, postharvest and processing phases of the supply chain, food waste takes place mainly at the end of the chain and therefore concerns primarily the habits and behaviour patterns of retailers and consumers. Many solutions and practices have been proposed and oftentimes implemented in order to “keep food out of landfills”, thus reducing food waste at the source. However, little attention has been paid to the possible sharing of consumer-side food surplus. In this context, food sharing could represent an effective way to tackle food waste at the consumers' level, with both environmental and economic potential positive effects. However, there is still little empirical evidence testing the effectiveness of introducing sharing economy approaches to reduce food waste. This study seeks to fill this gap through a framed field experiment. The authors performed two experimental treatments; in the control treatment students were asked to behave according to their regular food consumption habits, and in the food sharing treatment the same students were instructed to purchase food, cook and consume it collectively. Preliminary results showed that the adoption of food sharing practices by households do not automatically translate into food waste reduction. A number of factors, were evident from a quali-quantitative analysis of the sample (i.e. environmentally friendly behaviour, economic awareness, domestic skills and collaborative behaviors) might act as ‘enablers’ to make sharing practices more effective. The replication of our study at a larger scale will allow further investigation of the relevance of the identified enablers in order to unlock the full potential of food sharing practices.

Convenience or price orientation? Consumer characteristics influencing food waste behaviour in the context of an emerging country and the impact on future sustainability of the global food sector

Abstract The extent of food waste raises concern about its effect on natural resource use, food security and future sustainability of the international food sector. It is expected that emerging countries with a growing middle class will exhibit a similar extent and pattern of consumer-related food waste, which is disturbing given that food waste coexists with food insecurity. However, the topic is yet under-researched, as are potential actions against food waste. Through an experimental survey, individual consumer characteristics explaining self-reported food waste at home and choice of price-reduced suboptimal food otherwise wasted in stores were explored among a sample of 1124 Uruguayan consumers. Results showed that food waste was higher among price and convenience-oriented, but lower for value conscious consumers. Choice of suboptimal food was more likely for price-oriented consumers and less likely for convenience-oriented ones. Gender and age explained wastage and choice of suboptimal food. Perceived norms did not play any role, but perceived quality of suboptimal food had a major effect. For packaged foods, value consciousness decreased suboptimal food choice likelihood, while convenience orientation decreased the latter for fresh foods. Consumer price orientation impacted food waste when related to eating food waste incidents more than to storage food waste incidents. The findings show that convenience orientation is a driver of food waste behaviours both when shopping and at home. However, findings imply that tackling food waste requires context-specific consumer-targeted strategies: food market stakeholders should appeal to value consciousness in the household, and perceived quality and price orientation in the store.

Effect of temperature in domestic refrigerators on fresh-cut Iceberg salad quality and waste

The evolution of different quality parameters (firmness, weight loss, colour changes, microbial counts, consumer rejection) of packed fresh-cut Iceberg salad was assessed at 4, 8 and 12°C to simulate domestic refrigerators running at different conditions. The increase in storage temperature did not affect salad firmness and weight loss but increased colour changes, microbial growth and consumer rejection. A survey among Italian consumers was also carried out and demonstrated that fresh-cut salad was mainly consumed within the first 5days after purchasing. Consumer rejection data were combined with data relevant to the distribution of salad consumption over the days following product purchase, to estimate salad wasting risk. When salad was stored at 4 and 8°C, estimated wasted packages within the expiration date (7days) were <1%. By contrast, 13% of the packages was estimated to be wasted within 7days of storage at 12°C. Quantification of wasting risk is a necessary information to identify efficient and sustainable interventions to tackle food waste.

Food Waste at Time of Food Poverty: Are the EU and Its Member States Providing Sustainable Legal Solutions?

Throughout the global chain of production, food waste (and food surplus that are never inserted in the chain of consumption) represent a critical issue with significant social, economic and environmental consequences if not properly addressed. As a response, several legal initiatives to tackle food waste have been launched throughout the world: the legislative and regulatory choices made by the European Commission, France, Italy and the UK proposal of a Food waste (Reduction) Bill 2015-2015 are the object of our study. The underlying message of these legal interventions is that law can be the instruments to nudge citizens and producers into engaging with the ethical, social and environmental unacceptability of food waste. As such, law becomes an active instrument of social transformation, although it often operates in different forms and through different patterns. However, a comparative glance to the ratio and principles behind most of these legislative interventions seem not to question the origins and roots of food insecurity, nor to challenge the systemic production of food waste, or even to investigate the long term implications of the legal intervention. The aim of this paper is to present some of the main initiatives that have been launched as part of the ‘war on waste’ and reflect, through the use of local examples and expertise, on the validity or the current reforms and on the need to imagine alternative trajectories that not only look at the symptoms and at the causes of the problem.

Food Waste At Time Of Food Poverty:, Are The EU And Its Member States Providing Sustainable Legal Solutions?

Throughout the global chain of production, food waste (and food surplus that are never inserted in the chain of consumption) represent a critical issue with significant social, economic and environmental consequences if not properly addressed. As a response, several legal initiatives to tackle food waste have been launched throughout the world: the legislative and regulatory choices made by the European Commission, France, Italy and the UK proposal of a Food waste (Reduction) Bill 2015-2015 are the object of our study. The underlying message of these legal interventions is that law can be the instruments to nudge citizens and producers into engaging with the ethical, social and environmental unacceptability of food waste. As such, law becomes an active instrument of social transformation, although it often operates in different forms and through different patterns. However, a comparative glance to the ratio and principles behind most of these legislative interventions seem not to question the origins and roots of food insecurity, nor to challenge the systemic production of food waste, or even to investigate the long term implications of the legal intervention. The aim of this paper is to present some of the main initiatives that have been launched as part of the ‘war on waste’ and reflect, through the use of local examples and expertise, on the validity or the current reforms and on the need to imagine alternative trajectories that not only look at the symptoms and at the causes of the problem.

Can Marketing Help in Tackling Food Waste?: Proposals in Developed Countries

ABSTRACTOne third of food destined for human consumption is wasted globally, and much of the food waste that comes from high-income or developed countries is caused by poor marketing practices, consumer behavior, and consumption patterns. The present study focuses on developed countries to propose some marketing actions that could help in reducing food waste. A comprehensive analysis was carried out for each marketing variable, to provide a snapshot of actions and proposals that are being developed. Our study highlights the relevance of marketing in contributing to reduce food waste, through the removal of “Buy one, get one free” sales promotions, clarifying date labeling, or raising food waste awareness campaigns. The main contribution of this study is the proposal of marketing actions that help in tacking food waste.