Consumption Behavior and Residential Food Waste during the COVID-19 Pandemic Outbreak in Brazil

Abstract

The objective of this research was to look into the self-reported food consumption and wastage behavior in Brazil during the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak and the motivations to prevent this waste. The data were collected during the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak in Brazil, May 2020, using a self-administered questionnaire with 60 questions on food consumption behavior and characterization of food waste behaviors. The target audience comprised Brazilian residents responsible for household food purchases; out of 489 responses, 458 were considered valid. The main findings reported that regarding consumption behavior, there are no significant differences in relation to gender, education, and age. The surveyed population preferred shopping in person, despite the recommendation of social distancing, and reported activities to avoid food waste. This behavior suggests the importance of information and consumers’ education in making purchases and reducing waste, mainly amidst a crisis. The results suggest that intention to reduce waste, routines of food purchase in sales and management routines of leftovers or uneaten food are positively related to reducing the economic value of food waste. As a practical contribution, this study expands the understanding in one Latin American country regarding food consumption and wastage. The theoretical contribution leads to understanding of the behavior in times of crisis such as a pandemic.

Household Food Consumption and Wastage during the COVID-19 Pandemic Outbreak: A Comparison between Peru and Brazil

“…At the household level, many factors are involved in the pre-shopping process [43]. Herein, behavioral intention is determined by consumer attitudes toward behaviors, subjective standards, and perceived behavioral control [54].…”

“…Herein, behavioral intention is determined by consumer attitudes toward behaviors, subjective standards, and perceived behavioral control [54]. In fact, the most favorable attitudes toward a particular behavior develop into stronger intentions to perform the desired behavior [43]. Therefore, one can expect that a favorable attitude toward con-sumption and not wasting food generates an actual effective waste prevention behavior [30,[53][54][55].…”

“…Therefore, one can expect that a favorable attitude toward con-sumption and not wasting food generates an actual effective waste prevention behavior [30,[53][54][55]. However, awareness of the consequences of food wastage is significantly related to food waste, and there is a strong correlation between food wastage and domestic economy [13,26,28,43,49,53,55]. Therefore, intention, both as a prior process to shopping for food and as a predictor of food-buying behaviors, can also influence the amount of food wasted and its economic value [35,39,43].…”

“…These routines are systematized processes that people perform in their daily activities to make them more comfortable [53,55], but they do not constitute an automatic action. They are related to food item selection and action plans to make decisions in several situations and are related to food wastage [43,53,55]. Likewise, planning skills are related to understanding that food wastage represents wastage of money [43,51].…”

“…They are related to food item selection and action plans to make decisions in several situations and are related to food wastage [43,53,55]. Likewise, planning skills are related to understanding that food wastage represents wastage of money [43,51]. Hence, poor purchase planning is detrimental to the family budget [43,52], which means that planning is an indicator of responsible shopping, and its application reduces food wastage [53,[55][56][57].…”