From Farm to Fork: Addressing Food Waste in Households

Abstract

With the rising environmental awareness, the issue of food waste is drawing considerable attention from civil society, scholars, industry practitioners and policymakers alike. Addressing food waste is crucial, as it incurs a variety of social, health, economic and environmental costs, including greenhouse gas emissions, soil degradation and the depletion of natural resources.  The objective of this study is to analyze processes in food waste management to gain insight into factors influencing  consumer behaviour, attitudes, and practices regarding consumption and food waste and loss prevention in the supply chain. This requires the analysis of decision making methods and waste reduction strategies and approaches, particularly for households. The goal is to emphasize the importance of raising consumer awareness and sense of individual responsibility, especially given the recent surge in collective community intentions to live more sustainably. However, translating these intentions into tangible actions is uncertain and filled with socio-economic complexities. Reports indicate that, households are responsible for approximately half of all food waste generated.  Therefore, it's important to review the literature on barriers and triggers related to behaviour patterns and variations in food related lifestyle dimensions, to determine the factors that might influence food handling and food waste knowledge.  Targeting households presents a promising starting point for future interventions, highlighting actions that may influence the current food consumption model to reduce the amount of food wasted. The methodological approach was structured into three steps. First, a literature review was conducted to gather insights and identify factors and interconnections between consumer behaviour and food waste. Second, related drivers and triggers were analysed. Lastly, the findings were summarized to highlight gaps and opportunities for improving attitudes towards food waste prevention.