Motivations and Actions to Prevent Food Waste among Young Italian Consumers

Abstract

Food waste is a relevant global problem due to its consequences on food security, economy, and environmental sustainability. This study focuses, in detail, on finding the main motivation for food waste among the young and the principal actions to prevent it. The paper focuses on Italian reality, since Western countries are partly accountable for wasting large amounts of food. What is more, the focus has been shifted specifically on to the youths and young adults, as they are the portion of the population that are most inclined to waste food. Data were collected using a questionnaire survey performed on a sample of n = 904 Italian consumers. In line with previous research, the results of this study confirm that avoidable food waste comes from three main behavioural antecedents: over preparation, excessive purchase, and inappropriate conservation. The research shows that food waste cannot be reduced by just one-way from the consumers; rather, it goes both ways, between consumers and retailers. Therefore, only holding the consumers accountable and expecting them to solve it will not solve the problem of food waste; marketing and retailers should also consider ethics when it comes to food distribution.

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

“…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].…”

“…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]. Therefore, both raising awareness of the impact of food waste amongst younger consumers as well as knowledge and skills for reducing food waste is important.…”

How Consumer Behavior in Daily Food Provisioning Affects Food Waste at Household Level in The Netherlands

“…Consumer behavior is considered the main cause of food waste in developed countries [22]. Bravi et al [28] identify three main behavioral antecedents for food waste among a sample of young Italian consumers: over preparation, excessive purchase and inappropriate conservation. Avoiding food waste is a responsibility of the consumer (e.g., regarding conserving food in an appropriate manner), however, regarding purchasing behavior, retailers also play an important role (e.g., avoiding excessive purchasing).…”

Determination of consumers’ attitude and behavior on food waste prevention: The case of İzmir

“…Bu çalışmaların sonuçları hanehalkı gıda israfını önleme davranışını daha da geliştirmek için bir temel oluşturabilir. Pandemi gibi olağan dışı koşullar haricinde tüketicilerin satın alma ve israfı önleme davranışlarının geliştirilmesi için, kamu spotları hazırlanması ve alternatif israf azaltma yolları için farkındalık kazandırılabilir (Stefan, 2013;Bravi et al, 2019;Karakaş, 2019). Toplumun geleceği için eğitim sisteminde anaokulları ve ilköğretim planlarına sağlıklı beslenme teması içine gıda israf etmeme bilincini oluşturacak konular eklenebilir.…”