Reducing waste of food left on plates

Abstract

Purpose Social marketing and other types of targeted behaviour change interventions should appeal to an individual’s personal values in order to improve their effectiveness. However, there is currently little understanding of what these values are in relation to food waste. The purpose of this paper is to identify the values underpinning the specific behaviour of plate waste created in a residential foodservice setting. Design/methodology/approach In semi-structured interviews (n=50) laddering techniques were used to identify links from behaviours through individual’s rationalisation for that behaviour to their personal values. The aim of the questioning was to uncover underlying drivers that lead to plate waste as well as those barriers to reducing it. Findings The values identified as being most important are hedonism and self-direction. The specific aspects of these values for plate waste reduction interventions are not compromising on the individual’s enjoyment of the meal and meeting their health goals. Effective interventions include pre-ordering meals, reducing food options provided, reducing plate size, removing food tray and finally, information campaigns to raise awareness. Originality/value The study provides insights into the personal values that influence behaviours resulting in plate waste. The study is the first to determine the links between this behaviour, rationalisations for that behaviour and personal values.

Towards more sustainable food systems. Addressing food waste at school canteens

“…Williams et al (2012) reported that individuals with high environmental awareness were likely to waste less food. Furthermore, Mirosa et al (2016) related this fact to the personal value of universalism (care for the welfare of all and for nature), indicating that individuals who care for others and the environment are less likely to waste food. They also highlight the fact that people feel guilty when they waste food.…”

“…Table summarizes the abovementioned diverse categorized food waste drivers and a couple of examples of each together with the cited sources. (Cooke et al, 2011;Mirosa et al, 2016;Williams et al, 2012;Yoon & Kim, 2012) Operational reasons Procurement specifications Menu composition (Falasconi et al, 2015;Rodriguez Tadeo et al, 2014) Situational reasons Unpleasant canteen environment…”

“…We list in Table 2 a few examples of food waste minimization interventions suggested by scholars in the literature, classified by its related motivation. (Mikkola, 2009) Security Tailoring portion sizes to appetite and needs Tradition Nutrition education (Mirosa et al, 2016;Yoon & Kim, 2012) Economy Save money Limit competitive food (Marlette et al, 2005) (Cohen et al, 2015) Business Efficiency Menu composition & planning (Falasconi et al, 2015)…”

Towards integrating production and consumption to reduce consumer food waste in developed countries

“…The scoring was guided by answering two main questions: The first analysed actor is the consumer. Consumer interest is considered to be medium to high (score 4) because UK consumers different uses and purposes where some studies used it to understand consumers values behind either 'wasting' or 'not wasting' behaviours in a foodservice context (Mirosa et al 2016). In this research, the means-end chain analysis is used to identify products, services and system attributes that could support consumers to purchase, store, prepare and consume food efficiently so that food waste is minimised.…”

Evaluation of an Alimentary Education Intervention on School Canteen Waste at a Primary School in Bari, Italy

“…Many studies underline the role of educational campaign to improve awareness and change behaviors, as example a study on nutritional education found that information education raise awareness and it shown a negative correlation with plate waste rates [12] and another study in South Korea shown that students who recognized the need for nutritional education were significantly lower and students' attitudes towards food waste reduction were negatively correlated with plate waste rate [13].…”