Promoting Food Waste Reduction at Primary Schools. A Case Study

Abstract

Food waste (FW) has recently attracted the interest of different institutions and has been the focus of many studies due to its important environmental, social and economic impact. This paper aims to analyze whether a didactic intervention, consisting of informing teachers and pupils and involving pupils in reducing FW, could bring about changes in the level of knowledge and attitude towards FW and in the amount of FW generated during the mid-morning break and lunch at schools. This study was conducted at a public Primary School in Valencia (Spain). Subtle changes in the level of knowledge and attitude towards FW were detected in teachers and pupils after the intervention. Around 30% of FW reduction at lunch was observed in the intervention group but not in the other groups. A decrease of almost half of the average weight was observed during the mid-morning break in the rest of primary groups. The results apparently show that addressing the FW issue in classrooms can have a very positive effect on children’s attitudes. As it is such a cross-cutting issue; it raises awareness about a large group of Sustainable Development Goals, and encourages these young citizens to make conscious decisions and to act responsibly.

The Italian Observatory on Food Surplus, Recovery, and Waste: The Development Process and Future Achievements

“…The foodservice area needs particular attention considering that, due to the scarcity of data collected until now, it is impossible to obtain realistic estimates and an understanding of the causes of FLW in this sector. Obtaining this kind of information will provide instruments to improve the management of meals and to better design menus, which is of particular importance when referred to the school canteens (45)(46)(47). In fact, helping children to become aware of the consequences of food waste means educating future generations with appropriate sensitivity to this problem.…”

The Impact of Religiosity and Food Consumption Culture on Food Waste Intention in Saudi Arabia

“…Restaurants should select positive religious words by focusing on the virtue of food waste reduction [78] since they have a higher influence on pro-environmental behavior than negative words [79]. Restaurants could also encourage their customers to return their surplus of food for reuse to serve poor people and/or animals [80]. This could be done in collaboration with non-governmental associations concerned with environmental problems and food loss [81].…”

Food waste management: an example from university refectory

“…Various studies have focused on schools and university canteens (Wu et al , 2019; Boschini et al , 2020; Derqui et al , 2020; Richardson et al , 2021; Visschers et al , 2020; García-Herrero et al , 2021; Qian et al , 2021; Zhao et al , 2019; Antón-Peset et al , 2021; Kasavan et al , 2021; Leal Filho et al , 2021). Of these studies, Visschers et al (2020) investigated plate waste in two university canteens, including both the level of waste and consumer behaviours.…”

“…As mentioned before, increasing population and demand threaten sustainability, causing the traditional linear “buy, do and sell” model to become obsolete. Sustainability means not only doing what is right for the environment but also benefiting economically and socially (Antón-Peset et al , 2021). It is also circular rather than linear in that resources are recovered with the highest possible quality, reused and kept in use for as long as possible.…”