Food waste interventions: Barriers on the way to sustainable food systems

Abstract

Food waste is an important concern of modern societies, and the European Union has committed to significantly reducing it, especially at the consumption level. This comparative case study analysis examines the barriers that actual interventions in the EU have experienced and explores the mechanisms and dynamics behind them using meta‐ethnographic approaches. Barriers relating to culture, politics and policies, administration, the economy, and the spatial and temporal organization of life were identified. It is concluded that food waste reduction is a bundle of interrelated practices, and it is best understood with a sociological approach that focuses on social practices rather than individuals. Concepts that emerged as important include risk and the spatial and temporal organization of everyday life. This study proposes that a focus on the nexus of food waste generation–risk–household dynamics–spatial/temporal organization of urban life, as well as the use of interventions (rather than individuals) as units of analysis are fruitful directions for future research and action.