Food waste paradox: antecedents of food disposal in low income households

Abstract

This article aims to identify antecedents of food waste among lower‐middle class families – a paradox, given the financial constraints this population faces. The importance of this research is evident in escalating environmental pressures for better use of our planet's scarce resources. Given that most of the world is low‐income, any behavioral change in this population is likely to have a considerable impact. Empirical data were collected from 14 lower‐middle income Brazilian households, based on observations, in‐depth interviews, photographs and a focus group (n = 6). Five major categories of food waste antecedents were identified: (1) excessive purchasing, (2) over‐preparation, (3) caring for a pet, (4) avoidance of leftovers and (5) inappropriate food conservation. Several subcategories were also found, including impulse buying, lack of planning and preference for large packages. Surprisingly, findings show that strategies used to save money – such as buying groceries in bulk, monthly shopping trips, preference for supermarkets and cooking from scratch – actually end up generating more food waste. This mitigates the savings made during the purchasing phase.

Food losses and waste: how Brazil is facing this global challenge?

“…It is likely that individual analysis in each of the countries in the region would give a clearer picture of food waste, given the socioeconomic and cultural differences among countries. These FAO data and empirical evidence from recent studies change the idea that consumer food waste is a threat only to developed nations (Porpino et al, 2015(Porpino et al, , 2016.…”

“…Cooking more than necessary and serving large portions of foods is a common cultural trait in some Latin countries. In Brazilian households, in particular, abundant food stocks are highly valued, and for lowincome families, it is a signal of wealth (Porpino et al, 2015). Stockpiling food products in abundance goes back to the hyperinflation period of the 1980s and early 1990s, but, in the low-income context, it is also driven by the necessity to assure that the most consumed foods, such as rice, will last the entire month.…”

“…In an ethnographic study carried out among 30 middle-low income families in São Paulo and Brasília, Porpino et al (2015) identified five major categories of food waste: (1) excessive purchasing, (2) abundant preparation, (3) caring for a pet, (4) leftovers avoidance and (5) inadequate food preservation. Empirical evidence also shows that people responsible for food preparation who have experienced scarcity in the past tend to keep stocks high as a precaution, and as a consequence tend to prepare plentiful portions.…”

Postharvest losses of perishables in Brazil: what do we know so far?

“…At the present situation, high rates of postharvest losses and food waste occur simultaneously with the negative impacts of the economic crisis on food prices, which could increase again poverty and food insecurity in the country. Another relevant phenomenon is the culture of food waste present in all social classes in Brazil, including the poorer (Porpino et al, 2015).…”

信息干预是否影响食物浪费?——基于餐饮业随机干预试验

“…。据统计，欧盟每年人均食 物浪费量达 17.9 kg，总量达 9 000 万 t [4] 。针对食物浪费情况，国内外学者对不同国家的 食物浪费情况进行了相关研究，如美国 [5] 、瑞士 [6] 、芬兰 [7] 、德国 [8] 、中国 [9][10][11] 等，研究结果 表明这些国家的食物浪费量和浪费比例均较大。由此可见，食物浪费已成为全球性问 题，对全球粮食安全产生负面影响，亟待进行有效控制。 食物浪费不仅威胁到全球粮食安全，还严重地损耗了全球资源，并造成了严重的环 境污染 [12][13][14][15][16] 。据 FAO 测算，全球每年粮食浪费造成了 14 亿 hm 2 耕地和 2 500 亿 m 3 地表水的 损耗，还导致了 34.9 亿 t 二氧化碳的排放 [17] 。中国食物浪费造成的土地资源的浪费相当于 墨西哥全国的可耕地面积 [12] [19] 。中 国消费端环节的食物浪费也相当严重，有研究通过问卷调查和实测称重相结合的方法， 对北京市的餐饮食物浪费总量进行了估算 [16] 。 食物浪费归根到底是消费者行为选择的结果，已有文献研究了消费者的特征对食物 浪费的影响 [20][21][22][23][24][25][26] ，主要研究结果有：消费者缺乏购物规划、冲动购买、过度采购等会造成 一定程度上的食物浪费；消费者的家庭结构、收入水平、教育水平和其他经济变量等客 观因素也对食物浪费产生影响；消费者认知、态度、管理食物的能力和行为同样影响食 物浪费。总体上，大多数食物因为过多烹饪、准备或储存不当等被浪费掉。消费者食物 浪费的动机和消费者管理食物供应的技能是影响食物浪费的重要因素 [27] 。 有个别研究运用信息干预的方式来研究食物浪费问题。现有的文献对于信息干预是 否影响食物浪费的结论不一：1） 信息干预对减少食物浪费无效 [28] ，有研究通过在英国零售 商的杂志、电子通讯等内容中增加减少食物浪费的内容来试图影响消费者的行为，但结果 表明零售商的干预对减少食物浪费无效 [28] ；2） 信息干预对减少食物浪费行为有效 [8,29] ，有研 究以招募的 540 名大学生为研究对象，让其参与就餐计划并评估了信息干预是否会对学 生的食物浪费行为产生影响，结果显示简单的信息干预可有效减少 15%的食物浪费 [29] ； 3） 信息干预是否有效取决于被调查对象接收到的干预信息的具体内容，其食物浪费行为 因接收到的干预信息的不同而不同 [30] ，有研究在大学招募了 251 个大学生进行餐饮干预实 验，结果表明消费者对食物浪费信息的接收有助于减少食物浪费，但当消费者接收的信 息是浪费的食物可以用来堆肥时则浪费量不减少 [30] 。 目前学术界运用信息干预的方式来研究食物浪费存在以下几个问题：1） 研究中多采 用实验室实验的方式来研究信息干预对食物浪费的影响 [8,[29][30] ，实验室实验的方式难以完 全反映消费者在就餐过程中的真实情境；2） 现有文献多运用在线实验设计，并采用网上 问卷的方式进行调研 [8,28] [31][32...…”