Consumer food waste behaviour in universities: Sharing as a means of prevention

Abstract

In order to tackle food waste at the prevention stage of the waste hierarchy, an understanding of behaviour that leads to wastage is required. This article examines consumer food waste behaviour in a university setting and the implications for encouraging sharing as a means of mitigating food waste. The embodied and embedded nature of consumption and wasteful behaviours are contended, giving explanation to the transition of food into waste. By undertaking a mixed‐method study and a social media‐based intervention, behaviour that causes food to be wasted within a campus environment is discussed, furthering the current domestic focus of research. The paper argues that consumer food waste behaviour can be better understood by focusing on the practices, routines and habits of consumers given the hidden nature of the food waste issue. A number of barriers are also presented regarding the sharing of food as a means of food waste prevention. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Food waste matters - A systematic review of household food waste practices and their policy implications

“…However, receiving food from food donors via smart phone applications is not straightforward. Consumers report a range of concerns related to the safety of shared food and a lack trust in the donator (Lazell, 2016). The sharing of food is thus still not a widely socially accepted practice of food provisioning.…”

“…Evans, 2011aEvans, , b, 2012aCappellini, 2009;Cappellini and Parsons, 2012;Ganglbauer et al, 2013;Lazell, 2016;Leray et al, 2016; Meah, (Evans et al, 2012a, b). The scholarly discussion on food waste has benefited from the application of a practice theoretical lens given the shifting of attention to sequences of daily activities around food in households and the social and material contexts of food practices.…”

“…While gifting among close family members is not unusual, giving cooked food to others seems to be a more uncommon practice, possibly because people do not want to expose their culinary competence to strangers as the food could be perceived as 'bad' (e.g. not sophisticated, tasting poorly, or consisting of low-quality ingredients) or it could make people ill (Evans, 2012b;Lazell, 2016).…”

Food Waste as a Classic Problem that Calls for Interdisciplinary Solutions: A Case Study Illustration

“…For example, the healthcare industry is faced with two unique food waste challenges. First, hospitalized patients are ill and many experience appetite suppression, which results in large amounts of uneaten food (Lazell, 2016;McAdams, von Massow, Gallant, & Hayhoe, 2019;Williams & Walton, 2011). Thus, unique food delivery systems that are found to be successful in healthcare settings (McCray, Maunder, Norris, Moir, & MacKenzie-Shalders, 2018;Williams & Walton, 2011) may not apply to other settings.…”

Food waste valorization options: opportunities from the bioeconomy

“…Falcone and Imbert 2017;Ferrari 2016). However, the relationship between food sharing and reduced food waste is not a foregone conclusion, as a number of barriers such as the absence of direct social relationships and, accordingly, of trust as well as the absence of domestic skills might affect negatively results on food prevention (Lazell 2016;Morone et al 2016). Also on the production side, a number of alternative solutions, such as increasing shelf life of fruit and vegetables through innovative packaging, are being tested (see Gallagher and Mahajan 2011;Galgano et al 2015).…”