Household food waste generation: young consumers behaviour, habits and attitudes

Ghinea, Cristina; Ghiuță, Ovidiu-Aurel

doi:10.1007/s13762-018-1853-1

Cited by 45 publications

(59 citation statements)

References 17 publications

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“…Older participants were more concerned about the impact of food waste, which has previously been attributed due to generational rather than age-related differences in food-habits and values [38]. Studies of food waste highlight that the main reasons for generating food waste amongst younger consumers are concerns over freshness [87] improper storage and excessive purchasing due to more frequent shopping and retail marketing strategies [88,89]. Older consumers may also have greater skill and knowledge to plan meals and use leftover food [88,90].…”

Section: Factors Influencing Perceived Importance and Readiness To Adopt Sustainable Diet Recommendationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A cross-sectional survey of the readiness of consumers to adopt an environmentally sustainable diet

Culliford

Bradbury

2020

Nutr J

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Background The current food system is responsible for significant environmental damage therefore, encouraging consumers to adopt an environmentally sustainable diet is a key public health challenge. Dietary guidelines have been developed that outline recommendations for purchasing and consuming food in an environmentally sustainable manner, but they have not yet been incorporated in UK national dietary guidelines. Methods Via an online survey of UK adults, we evaluated consumers’ perceptions of the environmental benefit of various sustainable diet recommendations, their readiness to adopt these behaviours using the stage of change construct of the Transtheoretical Model, the factors that influenced their food choices, and their current consumption of plant- and animal-based sources of protein. Additionally, we investigated how demographic characteristics and food choice motives were associated with perceived environmental benefit of and readiness to adopt these sustainable diet recommendations. Results The survey was completed by 442 participants (66% female, 80% aged 25–54 years, 85% with higher education). The majority of participants considered the recommendations to ‘reduce consumption of air-freighted foods’ (79%), ‘reduce food waste’ (75%), and ‘buy locally grown produce’ (78%) to have a high environmental benefit, whereas a smaller proportion of participants perceived ‘prioritise plant-based proteins’ (42%) and ‘choose organic produce’ (27%) to have a high environmental benefit. Differences in perceptions and readiness to adopt sustainable dietary behaviours were observed between demographic groups, with women significantly more likely than men to be in action/maintenance (A/M) stages of change for prioritising plant proteins (OR 0.54), and younger participants more likely to be in pre-contemplation/contemplation (PC/C) stages of change for ‘choose organic produce’ (OR 2.03) and ‘choose sustainable fish’ (OR 2.45). Health, cost, environmental sustainability and taste were the most commonly reported food choice motives. Reporting environmental sustainability as a food choice motive was associated with readiness to adopt sustainable diet recommendations. Conclusions We found that consumers in the UK are engaged with some aspects of sustainable diets but remain resistant to others. The results of this study indicate that acceptable dietary guidelines could be developed to address environmental sustainability. Several behaviours were identified that consumers were willing to adopt, but there were barriers preventing them, highlighting that policy action is required to enable behaviour change to occur. Differences between demographic groups highlight potential targets for future campaigns promoting sustainable diets.

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Section: Factors Influencing Perceived Importance and Readiness To Adopt Sustainable Diet Recommendationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A cross-sectional survey of the readiness of consumers to adopt an environmentally sustainable diet

Culliford

Bradbury

2020

Nutr J

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“…However, there are some milestones in the scientific literature on the role of households and the final consumer in food waste management. Ghinea and Ghiut , ă [27] have investigated the behaviour, habits, and attitudes of young Romanians regarding food waste and identified the following reasons why they throw away food: expiration date (especially in the case of dairy products, meat, and eggs), too long period of storage of food in the refrigerator, inadequate storage methods, and deterioration of the appearance of food. They recommend carrying out awareness raising and education campaigns on label reading, shopping list planning and the use of food scraps [27].…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Ghinea and Ghiut , ă [27] have investigated the behaviour, habits, and attitudes of young Romanians regarding food waste and identified the following reasons why they throw away food: expiration date (especially in the case of dairy products, meat, and eggs), too long period of storage of food in the refrigerator, inadequate storage methods, and deterioration of the appearance of food. They recommend carrying out awareness raising and education campaigns on label reading, shopping list planning and the use of food scraps [27]. Stefan et al [28] demonstrated that the behavior oriented towards food waste among Romanian consumers is rather determined by the routine of planning and supplying food, the moral attitude, and control of being able to influence this routine.…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Food Waste Behavior among Romanian Consumers: A Cluster Analysis

Pocol

Pinoteau²,

Amuza

et al. 2020

Sustainability

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The main objective of the current study was to conduct an investigation at the national level in order to identify types of consumers depending on their perception of food waste. To do this, an online survey was carried out on a sample of 2541 respondents. Using a K-means clustering model, three clusters of consumers were identified. Cluster 1, “Careless”, consumers who dispose of food and food waste carelessly, are people who come from rural areas or small cities and have a rather low level of education. They do not have much information on the subject of food waste and do not seem to consider it “a problem”. Cluster 2, “Precautious”, composed of responsible people who do not throw away food, are well-informed and consider that all actors in the agri-food chain have a share in the food waste problem. Those who belong to cluster 3, “Ignorant”, are mostly from urban areas and have a high level of education. They were not raised to prevent food waste and therefore lack such habits as adults. They have a fair awareness of this subject, but they do not consider themselves responsible for food waste. The results obtained indicate the need to continue the awareness and education campaigns initiated at governmental and civil society level.

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“…The Waste and waste also needs to be made by consumers. Purchasing and household habits have a significant influence on the quantity of food that is wasted (Cicatiello et al, 2019, Ghinea and Ghiuta, 2019, Schanes et al, 2018. One type of initiative that allocates a balanced burden on both food supplier and consumer are take-back schemes for food waste (Eriksson et al, 2017).…”

Section: Recovery Of Value From Wastementioning

confidence: 99%

The significance of biomass in a circular economy

Sherwood

2020

Bioresource Technology

286

107

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This is a PDF file of an article that has undergone enhancements after acceptance, such as the addition of a cover page and metadata, and formatting for readability, but it is not yet the definitive version of record. This version will undergo additional copyediting, typesetting and review before it is published in its final form, but we are providing this version to give early visibility of the article. Please note that, during the production process, errors may be discovered which could affect the content, and all legal disclaimers that apply to the journal pertain.

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Household food waste generation: young consumers behaviour, habits and attitudes

Cited by 45 publications

References 17 publications

A cross-sectional survey of the readiness of consumers to adopt an environmentally sustainable diet

A cross-sectional survey of the readiness of consumers to adopt an environmentally sustainable diet

Food Waste Behavior among Romanian Consumers: A Cluster Analysis

The significance of biomass in a circular economy

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