"I don't throw away food, unless I see that it's not fit for consumption": An in-depth exploration of household food waste in Uruguay

Household food waste and theory of planned behavior: A systematic review and meta-analysis

The darker side of food behavior is that millions of tons of food have been shown the doors of garbage. Therefore, food waste behavior needs an eye to look upon. The purpose of this research is to inculcate the concept of systematic literature review along with meta-analysis in order to examine the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) with respect to food waste behavior. The methodology includes Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) that is conducted for the identification, screening, and inclusion of studies. In all, twenty-six independent studies with (N = 13373) met the inclusion criteria. For validating the related literature, random-effects meta-analysis has been applied for ascertaining the average correlation among the variables. More specifically, the present study also examines the sub-group analysis effect among TPB variables. The findings reveal that the strongest association was observed between Attitude and Intention followed by Subjective Norm (SN) and Intention (INT), Perceived Behavioral Control (PBC) and Intention, and Intention and Behavior. Furthermore, the subgroup analysis using multi-cultural groups explores the highest composite correlation in the case of other cultural groups that included countries like Canada. The outcomes of the present study seek to serve in the best interest of households, event management stakeholders, and food policy makers.

Determinants of Food Waste in Cluj-Napoca (Romania): A Community-Based System Dynamics Approach

This study identifies the most relevant causes of food waste according to the perceptions of key stakeholders in Cluj-Napoca, Romania. Community-Based System Dynamics (CBSD), a qualitative approach, was used to reveal the determinants of food waste. CBSD was intended to encourage the system thinking of participants in the field of food waste. Consequently, CBSD helped us map and visualize the role of each identified cause in the system and the nature of their interactions. For the present study, four categories of stakeholders were involved: consumers, public administration, food waste business, and the NGO sector involved in food waste reduction. The result of each modeling session was a loop diagram of the main food waste determinants. A common perception reflected within each stakeholder group was that food waste could be minimized through upstream actions. The participants highlighted pro-environmental knowledge, awareness, and values as the prerequisites for fighting food waste. It was found that the lack of education and awareness of food waste directly impacted food waste generation. In addition, the role of education was underlined by participants as a contributor to changing individual and household practices, such as overbuying. The lack of connection between consumers and the food production process, coupled with consumerist practices and the rejection of 'ugly food', contributed to the decrease in the overall value people attributed to food. Governmental intervention, through legislation, was indicated by the CBSD participants as being key to increasing societal awareness and shaping the behavior of food chain actors. We concluded that food waste is a 'wicked problem' and the interlocking of the economic, social, political, and environmental spheres and the multitude of stakeholders' interests, values, and perceptions should be considered in designing sustainable solutions to combat food waste. Finally, this research testifies to the importance of engaging with diverse panels of stakeholders who, through the multitude of opinions and perspectives on the causes of food waste, can further create knowledge about the most appropriate ways to combat the food waste phenomenon.

Food systems transformations in South America: Insights from a transdisciplinary process rooted in Uruguay

The wicked nature of sustainability challenges facing food systems demands intentional and synergistic actions at multiple scales and sectors. The Southern Cone of Latin America, with its historical legacy of “feeding the world,” presents interesting opportunities for generating insights into potential trajectories and processes for food system transformation. To foster such changes would require the development of collective understanding and agency to effectively realize purposeful and well-informed action toward desirable and sustainable food futures. This in turn demands the transdisciplinary engagement of academia, the private sector, government/policy-makers, community groups, and other institutions, as well as the broader society as food consumers. While the need for contextualized knowledge, priorities and definitions of what sustainable food systems change means is recognized, there is limited literature reporting these differences and critically reflecting on the role of knowledge brokers in knowledge co-production processes. The political nature of these issues requires arenas for dialogue and learning that are cross-sectoral and transcend knowledge generation. This paper presents a case study developed by SARAS Institute, a bridging organization based in Uruguay. This international community of practice co-designed a 3-year multi-stakeholder transdisciplinary process entitled “Knowledges on the Table.” We describe how the process was designed, structured, and facilitated around three phases, two analytical levels and through principles of knowledge co-production. The case study and its insights offer a model that could be useful to inform similar processes led by transdisciplinary communities of practice or bridging institutions in the early stages of transformative work. In itself, it also represents a unique approach to generate a language of collaboration, dialogue, and imagination informed by design skills and methods. While this is part of a longer-term process toward capitalizing on still-unfolding insights and coalitions, we hope that this example helps inspire similar initiatives to imagine, support, and realize contextualized sustainable food system transformations.

The Impact of the Nutritional Knowledge of Polish Students Living Outside the Family Home on Consumer Behavior and Food Waste

Food waste remains a major problem for the world and food security. Despite the fact that consumers are significant producers of food waste, little research attention has been paid to young people who are in college and living away from the family home. The present study aimed to assess food waste among college students living away from the family home, taking into account the nutritional knowledge acquired during college. In addition, the goal was to compare how nutritional knowledge affects food waste and consumer behavior in the study group. Descriptive statistics were performed on behaviors with food management at home, as well as shopping planning and self-shopping at the store, for the total respondents, students with nutritional knowledge and students without such knowledge. A chi-square test was performed to show whether the field of study influences the frequency of food throwing away and the appropriate management of excess food. Spearman's rank correlations were calculated for the frequency of food discarding, the frequency and amount of shopping and the field of study. The results indicate that the field of study determined food discarding and appropriate food management (p < 0.05), while it was found that fermented dairy beverages, fruits and vegetables and bread were the most frequently discarded foods in both study groups (p < 0.05). Students with nutritional knowledge were less likely to throw away food compared to students without nutritional knowledge and were better at managing excess food.

What Motivates Consumer Food Safety Perceptions and Beliefs? A Scoping Review in BRICS Countries

This scoping review aimed to map the main evidence in the existing literature regarding consumer perceptions and beliefs regarding food safety in the context of BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) countries. Articles were searched in the Web of Science, Scopus, and SciELO databases. The last search was performed on November 2021. Only the studies conducted within BRICS countries were included. The synthesis aimed to group similarities in consumer beliefs and perceptions of food safety. After screening, 74 eligible articles were included in the study. Of the 74 studies analyzed, 49 (66.2%) were carried out in China, 14 (18.9%) in Brazil, 5 (6.8%) in India,4 (5.4%) in South Africa, and 2 (2.7%) in Russia. Thirty-three motivators of perceptions and beliefs regarding food safety were identified. Food safety motivators were grouped into three categories: (1) sociodemographic characteristics, (2) cognitive aspects, and (3) other. In the “sociodemographic characteristics” category, the motivator with the highest number of corresponding results was education level (results = 22), followed by income (results = 22), both positive drivers for food safety perceptions. The “cognitive aspects” category comprised the majority of the identified motivators. Concern for food safety (results = 32) and risk perception (results = 30) were the motivators with the highest number of results among all categories and motivators. Finally, the main motivator in the “other” category was place of consumption/purchase (results = 8), focusing on consumers underestimating the risk of having a foodborne disease when eating away from home. China and Brazil are leading the way in studies on this topic. Consumers’ perceptions are influenced by socioeconomic characteristics (e.g., age, gender, education level, income), cognitive aspects (e.g., knowledge, risk perception, food concerns, previous experience with food safety incidents) and other situational factors (e.g., price, place of purchase, traceability).

What Is Safe and How Much Does It Matter? Food Vendors' and Consumers' Views on Food Safety in Urban Nigeria

This study examines the food safety beliefs of vendors and consumers in a mid-sized Nigerian city using data from in-depth interviews and cognitive mapping techniques drawn from ethnography. We examine vendors' and consumers' perspectives on which foods are safe, which are not, and why; the place of foodborne illness among other health concerns and motivators of food choice; and how salient food safety is as a concern for vendors. The main perceived causes of unsafe food were found to be chemicals and insects; while bacterial illnesses were widely mentioned as a cause of gastrointestinal symptoms, these were not necessarily linked to food in consumers' minds. Respondents agreed strongly that certain foods (e.g., cowpea, beef, green leafy vegetables, and local rice) were less safe than others. The importance of food safety as a choice motivator among consumers varies depending on framing: when asked directly, it was prominent and closely related to visible cleanliness, but concerns about food safety competed in consumers' minds against other salient motivators of food and vendor choice, such as price. Most vendors did not see food safety, cleanliness, or hygiene as a key trait of a successful vendor, and just over half of vendors had any concern about the safety of their food. In conclusion, we note the implications for intervention designs, particularly the need to build upon consumers' and vendors' current beliefs and practices related to food safety in order to make foodborne disease prevention a more salient concern in food choice.