Mim Bhuiyan

City College of New York

ENGL 21001

24 Dec 2021

Self-Assessment

One of the first major assignments for this course was the Opinion Editorial. My topic was based on the issue of food waste as this is an issue which has affected me personally as well as my loved ones, and community. In my essay I went back and forth with the issue being a local and global problem. However, revising it now made me realize my essay was a bit inconsistent. I should’ve focused on one scale to show the implication of the food waste problem. Despite not picking one scale, whether it was local or global, the essay allowed me to strengthen my source use practices. In my essay I included statistics to support my stance on the issue. I also made sure my stance was clear by stating it in the introduction, restating it in the conclusion, and including personal anecdotes throughout the essay. The first essay helped me reach the course learning outcomes of using sources appropriate to my topic and incorporating it well into my essay to formulate and articulate my stance.

The visual essay was the second major assignment which was different from the assignment I usually get. During this assignment I had to make sure the information included in the written portion of this assignment correlated with the image I chose to base my assignment on. In the process of doing so I made sure to evaluate the image, integrate in in my written piece along with analyses of quotes and citations from my sources. I included subtitles and bullet points within my essay to make the layout much clearer for my reader to understand and follow along. While this assignment was different and challenging, I did well in using my sources and enhancing my revising and editing my essay to improve the layout.

In the critical analysis essay, I was able to develop and engage in the collaborative and social aspects of writing processes. Some of the collaborative aspects include stating the issue and explaining it so my stance is clear. Once I knew where I stand on the topic, I began planning how to state my points and deciding in which section of my writing I will present those points.  While doing that, I made sure my research and data collection was presented at relevant times when the points were being presents. Keeping my intended audience in mind throughout this essay was difficult but I made sure I revised my essay to make sure the tone was consistent in a way that my readers could relate. The course learning outcome of developing and engaging in the collaborative and social aspects of the writing process was something I hadn’t given much thought to prior, however, realizing its importance now has helped improve my writing structure.

 

 

 

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Essay 1: Opinion Editorial

Published by Mim Bhuiyan 11 October 2021

Food Waste Amongst Young Adults

Young adults are wasteful with food. They are one of the top contributors to the issue. How can we combat this?

Food waste is a known global issue in the U.S., but which age group is contributing so much to this issue? Young adults. The Institute of Food Technologists published the University of Illinois’ research found “young adults have a higher tendency to waste food compared to other age groups”. Many young adults, including myself prior, are not aware of the bigger picture of food waste and the role they play in it. Small steps to reduce personal food waste in households specifically can have drastic, positive effects on both the environment and the economy. Food waste generates a large economic loss each year. It also increases the amount of landfill waste; this causes the release of environmentally harmful greenhouse gases. The food is placed in landfills which is unnecessary as the food can be given to people in need. For example, it can be sent to food banks and homeless shelters. Many people cannot afford to buy the proper, nutritious food while other people are throwing it away to waste. By being aware and correcting personal food waste behaviors with intentional actions, the overall issue can be combated.

Food waste adds to landfill waste which is needless as it can be easily diverted to other resources such as food banks and homeless shelters. I recall my first time living alone in August 2021 and constantly throwing out food on a monthly basis. Each fridge cleanout session would evoke feelings of guilt because I knew there were people in need of the food I was wasting. Despite knowing the harmful effects of food waste, the cycle of my food waste continued. A University survey conducted by Whitehair, Shanklin, and Brannon in 2013 showed “Students already have beliefs about food waste but require reminders to act in line with their beliefs. These data provide insight on young adults’ perceptions of wasted food in the U.S.” As the survey indicated, most students have a moral belief in reducing food waste, however, are enough students taking action to correct their personal food waste behaviors? No. Based on my experience this is understandable, the process of reducing my food waste was challenging as it was a process of trial and error. While it was challenging, I was motivated to combat the issue once the realization that I am wasting food and money set in, this was a lose-lose situation. I began to be more cautious of what items I was adding to my grocery shopping list and sticking to the list. In doing so, I saved money because I was not buying anything besides the necessary items on my list. After my grocery store runs, I made sure to store my food properly to increase the longevity so that it wouldn’t spoil very fast. Meal prepping was also key because it made me use all my food before it became spoiled. To track the progress of my personal food waste issue, I would record what was wasted each month during my fridge clean-out days. By taking many intentional steps to combat the issue, my food waste contribution decreased drastically. In the bigger picture, I was reducing the food waste that was going to end up in landfills.

The economy loses more money as the amount of food being wasted increases. Food waste is a global issue costing many countries to lose money. Specifically for the U.S., the EPA published in the International Efforts on Wasted Food Recovery that “40% of food is lost or wasted, annually costing an estimated $218 billion or 1.3% of GDP. Food accounts for 21% of solid waste to U.S. landfills.” Besides the food being unnecessarily wasted, it is also causing the economy to unnecessarily waste money. Just as the food can be put to better use, the money being lost in the economy can be as well. By working towards reducing the total amount of food waste, it will also generate more jobs and divert waste from being placed in landfills. Landfills should be the last resort for disposing of food to save the economy money. The food can be sent to donation sites such as food banks and homeless shelters or it could be saved within the community with a neighborhood fridge. By donating food to people in need and low-income families, you allow them to use their money on other consumer goods which will stimulate the economy. Combating food waste can help improve the economy.

Food waste causes many negative environmental effects. It produces the greenhouse gas, methane. Methane is produced by the rotting of food often taking place in large amounts in landfills. It reduces the amount of oxygen in the air and increases the amount of heat in the Earth’s atmosphere, resulting in global warming and climate change. Instead of wasting food in a way that negatively impacts the environment, you can do the exact opposite through the process of composting. Composting involves the use of food scraps to nourish the land for plant growth as a natural fertilizer.  According to the national organization, Move for Hunger, “An average home can divert about 150 kg of food waste a year from local waste disposal facilities by adopting home composting.” Home composting is effective in helping the land rather than causing harm to it. My personal food waste journey included the process of composting. It was a very simple and easy process for me to begin. All I had to do was create a composting pile and make sure I am adding compostable materials. Some of the common items in my composting pile were banana peels, orange peels, coffee grounds, and tea bags. After doing some research, I found a Drop-off composting site in my neighborhood. The compost I dropped off was put to good use in my community’s garden. Rather than wasting food in landfills to cause environmental damages, food waste can be repurposed to benefit the environment through composting. 

Young adults are the top contributors to the issue of food waste. Even the start of small steps in combating the issue can drastically improve the role they play. Most people don’t understand how their habits affect the environment and the economy on a much larger scale. Food waste can negatively impact the environment and the economy which is needless as this waste can be diverted to other uses. The waste could be used to provide food for low-income families which in turn will benefit the economy. Another way to put the food to good use is to compost it to benefit the soil during plant growth. In doing so, it will help reduce the amount of food waste in landfills that cause the production of environmentally harmful greenhouse gases. By combating the issue of food waste, it will help solve other issues such as global warming and economic struggles. Food waste can be addressed in personal households by correcting personal food waste behaviors with intentional actions.

Reflection

My Op-Ed article, Food Waste Amongst Young Adults is intended to be pitched to National Geographic. I chose this publication because my target audiences are teenagers and young adults. I specify throughout my Op-Ed and in the title of my Op-Ed that I will be speaking about young adults as they are the top contributor to the food waste issue that I am addressing. National Geographic is known for informing its audience about various issues and topics. One of their collections is the Food Education Collection, I aim for my Op-Ed article to be published in that specific section of the National Geographic publication. The purpose of my Op-Ed is to inform my audiences about the negative effects of food wasting and what they can do personally to help combat the issue. I want to make my audience more self-aware about their personal food wasting behaviors and motivate them to take small intentional steps in correcting their behaviors.

There are many aspects of the National Geographic magazine that appeals to my Op-Ed article. First, it has a Food Education collection which is the category my piece will fall under. According to the National Geographic statement, their mission for this collection is to help students learn about food related issues in connection to the environment and society. In my Op-Ed I state, “Instead of wasting food in a way that negatively impacts the environment, you can do the exact opposite through the process of composting.” I continue to further explain how the environment is impacted by this issue and how it can be resolved. This is a part of the Food Education’s mission that National Geographic aims to educate the audience about. National Geographic also uses a lot of storytelling in their written pieces. In my Op-Ed I provided personal anecdotes for the readers to connect more to my personal food waste journey. My Op-Ed fits into the mission of National Geographic’s Food Education Collection and the writing style of their pieces.

My Op-Ed has a mixture of logos and pathos. One of the points I discussed in my essay is how the economy is negatively affected by food waste. My cited evidence was “40% of food is lost or wasted, annually costing an estimated $218 billion or 1.3% of GDP. Food accounts for 21% of solid waste to U.S. landfills.”  This is appealing to logos because it is in reference to statistics. Pathos was shown also through personal anecdotes as I explained my feeling of guilt as I would throw out food knowing there are families in need of the food. My stance on the issue of food waste was that it was harmful to the economy and environment, it needs to be actively combated. The rhetorical appeals of logos and pathos helped my audience understand my stance on the issue.

Works Cited:

“International Efforts on Wasted Food Recovery.” EPA, Environmental Protection Agency,

www.epa.gov/international-cooperation/international-efforts-wasted-food-recovery.

Nickols-Richardson, Sharon M., and Brenna Ellison. “Wasted Food: A Qualitative Study of U.S. Young Adults’ Perceptions, Beliefs and Behaviors.” Appetite, Academic Press, 29 July 2018, https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0195666317311364.

“The Environmental Impact of Food Waste.” Move For Hunger, https://moveforhunger.org/the-environmental-impact-of-food-waste

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Essay 2: Visual Essay

Food Waste among Young Adults

Food wastage and loss:

Good food Waste:

 

According to recent research, it is shown that young adults aged between 18-24 years have a proportional high tendency to waste food as compared to other age groups. It is increasingly recognized that food waste is a relevant global issue with negative impacts on the economy and food security.  Hundreds and thousands of food tones are being wasted yearly in different households. Young people especially students are a key target audience within the said age group wasting a lot of food who have wide and diverse food choices. Many young adults lack the skills and proper food management behaviour to help in preventing excessive food wastage. Therefore, to save households by preventing food wastage is it important to gain a better understanding for example of what type of food young adults waste and why they do so. Food wastage is a very important topic that society as a whole has overlooked yet it is a very it is a vital chapter that should be included in many research and writings. To start with the definition, food wastage refers to the extravagant use of food. Food wastage occurs when the original intent of food usage is abused and so there is a tendency of gluttony among those who waste food.

The group of people under this analysis and investigation is the young adults. These groups of people usually waste a lot of food due to various reasons and that has led to a bad image to be emulated by the young children who are still growing. It is also important that the bad habit of food wastage among the young adult is tolerated even when they become full adults, and this causes a problem in their own families.

Why do young adults Waste food?

There is serious food wastage among young people. There are various reasons for this, most of which are discussed below.

• They don’t have any burden of responsibility attached to them. The young adults have no responsibility attached to them and so they just use the food that is available in an extravagant manner. It is the full responsibility that makes a person responsible. Those who are not responsible don’t suffer any pain attached to responsibility.
• Young adults naturally want to live to impress others. This makes them inevitably waste the available food. They want to show off that they are capable to do what others cannot do or afford. This gives rise to food wastage among young adults.
• It is also vital to note that most young adults haven’t suffered in life as far as the financial problem is concerned. They haven’t learned any vital lesson that those who are from poor backgrounds have learned. This has caused them to waste food a lot and thereby plunging the family into a food crisis.
• Peer pressure among them has caused food wastage. One great force that influences the behavior of children and young adults is peer pressure. A child may have good characters but as he interacts with the others who are of bad characters, invariably they get spoilt. They have learned about this food shortage from their fellow friends.
• Most young adults are indiscipline. Indiscipline causes them to do exactly the opposite of what is right. They may know that food should be used in the right way and correct amount, indiscipline causes them to do the exact opposite.
• Lack of moral lessons on the importance of the rightful consumption of food. Many haven’t been given this wonderful teaching. They are in ignorance as they involve themselves in food wastage

Factors Leading to food wastage Amongst Young Adults

Different factors were identified to be affecting college and university students’ food wastage behaviour. They range from individual and family levels characteristics, location, catering, education, and knowledge on food management, age, economic status, and the average income. For example, people with high income, young adults, and students are reported to waste more food as compared to the poor people in the society who waste less to no food. Thus, factors like social norms, upbringing, responsibility, attitudes, experience, and food understanding highly influence food behaviour.

The study many people waste a lot of food due to bad and poor planning, excess purchasing from groceries, and many more issues are attributed to food waste in the households. especially students, many attribute food wastage to the fact that they do not like the food dependency on parents’ provisions, a lot of food was cooked and served in excess and the most common reason being that the food was of date does serving as a safety measure. In comparison to people eating alone, a lot of food is said to be wasted when dining together with friends. Therefore, the higher the time pressures the more food loss and waste, and the greater satisfaction among participants the less food is wasted.

Food wastage is posing a lot of threats to food security thus much attention should be directed towards reducing food loss and food waste. Food loss prevention has great impacts and benefits on the environment, social and economic sectors. However, to ensure that food loss is avoided, both consumers and marketers have an important role to play. For example, marketing strategies like promotions are one of the major issues contributing to excess food loss by encouraging consumers to purchase in excess. Food waste occurs at both levels, that it the consumer and retail or marketing level hence actions and measures directed towards avoidance of food loss among consumers alone may not yield desired results. to help reduce the rate of food loss among students in colleges and universities, it is recommended that university canteen attendants and other important decision markers attach great importance by enacting measures like coming up with effective ways to reduce food waste by developing policies that are favourable to all students with different family and individual characteristics.

Activities like encouraging purchasing of food that people only need may help reduce buying in bulk thus saving money, better planning before and after shopping on food consumption, and use of leftovers. A great amount of food loss especially among students is due to the negative perceptions held by different students that the food is of low quality and value causing it to be thrown away since it is disliked. Supporting student’s transition from dependably living with their parents to being indecent with their peers and friends ensures that they undergo self -discovery hence posits a need for proper food consumption.

It is important to understand that young people like students require guidance on the issues of effective food management which includes planning, leftover usage, and making the purchase. since young adults spend most of their time browsing on various social media platforms, such platforms as Facebook and Instagram can be used in creating awareness on important beneficial solutions to food wastage and promotion of food storage tips. Also, the food loss and food waste issue may be personalized to ensure that every individual takes responsibility

The young should know that food wastage is not good. They should accurately know that food should be prepared just enough for consumption and not excess that will be thrown away thereafter. They must start being responsible from an earlier age and this is what will deter them from this vice behaviour. The young should be taught how to live their own sober and satisfying life irrespective of others. This will eradicate the desire to be flamboyant in all they do. Naturally, they will use food in the right way. They should also learn that there are people who are facing a food crisis. This will make them use food appropriately and even help those who lack it.

Works Cited

Bell, Adam Edward, and Khire Rushikesh Ulhas. “Working To Reduce Food Waste: Investigating Determinants Of Food Waste Amongst Taiwanese Workers In Factory Cafeteria Settings”. Sustainability, vol 12, no. 22, 2020, p. 9669. MDPI AG, https://doi.org/10.3390/su12229669.

C, Dr. Kalyani Srinivas, and Ms. Rina Dongre. “A Study Of Generation Of Food Waste And Awareness Regarding The Food Waste Amongst Indian Households”. International Journal Of Trend In Scientific Research And Development, Volume-2, no. Issue-4, 2018, pp. 1174-1178. South Asia Management Association, https://doi.org/10.31142/ijtsrd14161.

Jia Miin, Janice Ng et al. “The Effect Of Food Blogger’S Reviews On Young Adults’ Food Choice Decision In Malaysia”. International Journal Of Psychosocial Rehabilitation, vol 24, no. 02, 2020, pp. 896-908. Hampstead Psychological Associates, https://doi.org/10.37200/ijpr/v24i2/pr200398.

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Essay 3: Critical Analysis

   Food Waste Analysis

Nearly one-third of all food produced for human consumption is lost or wasted each year, amounting to 1.3 billion tons of food. Food losses and wastes are indirectly accompanied by a broad range of environmental impacts, such as soil erosion, deforestation, water, and air pollution, as well as greenhouse gas emissions that occur during the processes of food production, storage, transportation, and waste management, due to the resource-intensive nature of food production. Scenarios for Europe show that reducing food waste at all levels of the food production and consumption chain has a significant potential for reducing emissions. This systematic literature review makes two contributions: first, it aids in the identification of gaps in scholarly evidence that need to be filled in order to expand the knowledge base on food waste behavior; second, it provides a knowledge repertoire and thus guidance for evidence-based management and policymaking, which can potentially improve the quality and effectiveness of policy measures as well as technological innovations aimed at food waste. Private households account for most of the food waste along the food supply chain. Given the large volumes of food waste generated at the household level, food waste reduction at the last stages of the supply chain is critical in preventing additional climate change. Through the understanding of food waste behavior and trends, the society would have a better chance of deducing desirable management approaches lowering the level of wastage.

Food waste Behavior and Practices

Food waste is becoming more recognized as an urgent issue among governments, corporations, NGOs, academics, and the general public as a result of these expanding environmental, social, and economic issues. As a result, there is a growing body of evidence on the amount of food lost and the associated emissions along the food production-consumption cycle (Schanes et al., 2018). Private households account for most of the food waste along the food supply chain (Schanes et al., 2018). Given the large volumes of food waste generated at the household level, food waste reduction at the last stages of the supply chain is critical in preventing additional climate change. To be more specific, if food is thrown away at the end of the supply chain, all of the (fossil) energy (and greenhouse gas emissions) that went into its production, processing, shipping, chilling, and preparation was squandered (Schanes et al., 2018).

There is currently a dearth of field study on the topic of consumer-generated food waste in the setting of private households. Despite an increasing number of research, little is understood about the elements that influence consumer food waste and the underlying causes that support, motivate, or obstruct food waste behaviors and practices. A detailed examination of households reveals that the challenges of food waste and sustainable eating habits are varied (Schanes et al., 2018). The evidence on the causes of food waste and the hurdle to its reduction is fragmented due to its complexity. have compiled a review of the literature on the causes of food waste, focusing on cultural, political, economic, and geographic factors, with a special focus on the United States (Schanes et al., 2018). However, a thorough study that includes research from the social sciences in particular and provides a comprehensive map of the intellectual domain of the major causes of food waste in the home is lacking.

The study give a thorough, transparent, and replicable literature review of the existing scientific discussion on the reasons for consumer food waste in this work. The study examines and analyze evidence on the factors that prevent or promote consumer food waste, and address the contributions of psychology oriented approaches and social practice theory based on this analysis. Following that, the study offers insights into policy and corporate choices for addressing the concerns revealed by such evidence, as well as recommendations for further research.

However, there is currently a dearth of field study on the topic of consumer-generated food waste in the setting of private households. Despite an increasing number of research, little is understood about the elements that influence consumer food waste and the underlying causes that support, motivate, or obstruct food waste behaviors and practices (Xue et al., 2017). A detailed examination of households reveals that the challenges of food waste and sustainable eating habits are varied. The evidence on the causes of food waste and the hurdle to its reduction is fragmented due to its complexity. have compiled a review of the literature on the causes of food waste, focusing on cultural, political, economic, and geographic factors, with a special focus on the United States (Xue et al., 2017). However, a thorough study that includes research from the social sciences in particular and provides a comprehensive map of the intellectual domain of the major causes of food waste in the home is lacking. The study give a thorough, transparent, and replicable literature review of the existing scientific discussion on the reasons for consumer food waste in this work.

Scholars from a variety of disciplines have investigated the issue of food waste produced in families in developed countries. While the study does not want to draw too many disciplinary lines, two social ontologies that have expanded the scholarly conversation on consumer food waste can be distinguished. On the one hand, there are psychology-based approaches often rooted in consumer behavior or environmental psychology that seek to identify and measure specific intra-personal, cognitive, motivational, and structural factors and processes that are either driving or impeding pro-environmental behavior. In the review, the study discovered that the theory of planned behavior is the most commonly used framework in the field of environmental psychology when investigating food waste behavior. Individual behavior, according to the theory, is determined by the purpose to do the desired behavior, as well as motivation and willingness to act. This socio-psychological paradigm is used in studies to give large-scale data from a large number of people and to establish causal links between cognitive and socio-demographic characteristics and behaviors. They have, for example, provided insight into the importance of internal cognitive processes and determinants of behavior, such as attitudes, norms, knowledge, and intentions.

Sociopsychological concept of food waste

While cognitive and intrapersonal characteristics can only predict intention and, to a lesser extent, actual behavior, to a limited extent. According to studies on food waste, having a higher intention to reduce food waste is connected to having a lower level of self-reported food waste. In contrast to these findings, a study that included planning and shopping habits as additional variables in the model found that the goal to not waste food has no effect on reported food waste (Makov et al., 2020). To put it another way, even if people have a strong desire to reduce food waste, this desire does not always convert into action. Explain this by pointing out that food waste isn’t caused by conscious intent, and that food-related family activities appear to be a better indicator of the amount of food wasted. The ‘attitude-behavior’ gap is a typical explanation for the poor link between intention to prevent food waste and action (Makov et al., 2020). The ‘value action’ or ‘attitude behavior’ gap has been described as a reported discrepancy between possessing environmental attitudes and values and performing environmental behavior. As a result, cognitive factors like attitudes, intentions, and motivations aren’t always indicative of decreased food waste. Even though contextual elements such as infrastructure are included as external factors, they have not been systematically incorporated into applied models.

More sociological contributions, most notably those based on social practice theory, have responded by providing a new, supplementary perspective on the issue of food waste. A social practice approach to food waste creation broadens the viewpoint on the issue and allows researchers to go beyond individual psychological aspects including attitudes, behavior, and choice. What social practice theory provides is a conceptual framework for understanding the socio-temporal character of home practices (Makov et al., 2020). Theories of social practice acknowledge the individual as a part of larger social, economic, and cultural aspects of daily life in this way. As a result, practice methods avoid framing food waste as a personal issue. Instead, social practice theories attribute behavior to broader causes that are beyond the control of individuals and are reflected in the structure and timing of daily activities.

Given the increase in focus to sequences of everyday activities around food in families and the social and material contexts of food practices, scholarly research on food waste has benefited from the application of a practice theoretical lens. A practice theory approach to food waste creation provides insights into the junction of numerous activities, actors, materials, spatial–temporal aspects, and their effects on food waste generation.

Social ontologies such as theories of social practice and models of consumer behavior offer various conceptualizations of behavior and change. Even though radical voices believe that a proper synthesis of the two perspectives is unachievable, researchers are increasingly seeing the value in having an open and productive discussion between them, particularly in the area of sustainability (Makov et al., 2020). The current article follows a similar approach, examining how and why food is wasted using empirical evidence from psychology and social practice theory (Makov et al., 2020). Although the study notes that the underlying conceptualizations of the two viewpoints differ greatly and so may not be directly comparable, both strands have made major contributions to a better understanding of the complex phenomenon of food waste.

The following part is based primarily on research from psychology-oriented methodologies that provide insights into consumer concerns, motives, and norms about food waste, as well as their causal relationship with the aim to minimize food waste behavior (Makov et al., 2020). Furthermore, research based on the social practice theory provides a more nuanced and comprehensive explanation of food waste meanings and perceptions. Unlike psychological approaches, social practice theory rejects the idea of a one-way causal relationship between attitudes, values, and behaviors; instead, personal values and behaviors are viewed as dynamic and co-constructive.

Food waste Management

In poor countries, efforts to combat food loss have been continuous, such as advancements in harvesting and storage technologies, biological controls, and so on. Efforts to reduce food waste, on the other hand, are more recent. The rest of this essay will concentrate on the more narrowly defined topic of food waste (Paritosh et al., 2019). The economic and other implications of food waste have prompted efforts in both the public and commercial sectors to eliminate food waste across the supply chain. National and international initiatives through the US Food Waste Challenge and the SAVE FOOD Initiative, have set food waste reduction goals and are aimed to enable knowledge sharing and best practices for waste reduction across the supply chain exist in the public sector (Filimonau & Delysia, 2019). In addition, there has been a rise in legislation concerning food waste (Paritosh et al., 2019) In the United States, legislation was filed to clarify date labeling on food goods, including “sell by,” “use by,” and “best by.” A new regulation in France prohibits retailers from throwing away unsold food and instead requires them to donate it (Paritosh et al., 2019). In 2010, the South Korean government enacted a volume-based food waste fee scheme, which requires households to pay depending on the weight of their garbage.

The society has also enhanced the creation of knowledge-sharing groups in the commercial sector such as Food Waste Reduction Alliance. In addition, several electronic solutions have been launched to assist track waste, plan, shop, cook more efficiently and donate leftovers (Filimonau & Delysia, 2019). The movement is linked to Intermarche, a French grocery chain, but it has quickly spread (Paritosh et al., 2019). In their produce aisles, major U.S. shops such as Walmart and Whole Foods are selling “ugly” fruits and vegetables. Both initiatives are presently in the pilot stage, but they want to scale up in the future.

While emphasizing the measures that individuals can employ to reduce food waste in their homes, it is also important to recognize that individuals are part of larger social, economic, and cultural systems that may impede them from adopting less wasteful practices. Infrastructure such as storage (e.g., cellars, refrigerators) and shopping facilities (e.g., huge supermarkets, neighborhood stores, farmers markets) shape household food (waste) practices. In addition, a lack of time to care about food in general, and food waste, along with the perceived unpredictability of daily lives, may make food waste prevention a difficult undertaking. Indeed, a perceived time shortage as a result of today’s complex scheduling of work, family, and leisure time appeared at all stages of food-related household practices, such as planning shopping trips, shopping more frequently, shopping at smaller stores, growing one’s own food, properly storing food, or cooking with leftovers, as a key constraint to practices of food waste reduction. However, little research has been done on how people’s perceptions of time availability influence their waste habits.

References

Filimonau, V., & Delysia, A. (2019). Food waste management in hospitality operations: A critical review. Tourism management, 71, 234-245. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tourman.2018.10.009

Makov, T., Shepon, A., Krones, J., Gupta, C., & Chertow, M. (2020). Social and environmental analysis of food waste abatement via the peer-to-peer sharing economy. Nature communications, 11(1), 1-8.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-14899-5

Paritosh, K., Kushwaha, S. K., Yadav, M., Pareek, N., Chawade, A., & Vivekanand, V. (2017). Food waste to energy: an overview of sustainable approaches for food waste management and nutrient recycling. BioMed Research International, 2017. doi: 10.1155/2017/2370927

Schanes, K., Dobernig, K., & Gözet, B. (2018). Food waste matters-A systematic review of household food waste practices and their policy implications. Journal of cleaner production, 182, 978-991. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2018.02.030

Xue, L., Liu, G., Parfitt, J., Liu, X., Van Herpen, E., Stenmarck, Å., … & Cheng, S. (2017). Missing food, missing data? A critical review of global food losses and food waste data. Environmental Science & Technology, 51(12), 6618-6633.

 

Reflection

While many publications and food waste reduction projects in the public and private sectors identify households (consumers) as one of the most significant sources of food waste, little research has been done to understand how households make food waste decisions. Furthermore, this decision is rarely framed as a cost-benefit analysis. Depending on one’s preferences, motivations, and resource limits, there are probably occasions where wasting is the best option. For example, rather than risk falling unwell, an individual may decide to discard milk that is several days past its expiration date. While analysing the household production model, Makov et al., (2020) claims that Americans should squander more than individuals in underdeveloped nations since the opportunity cost of their time surpasses the market costs of food and other items (Makov et al., 2020). In order to understand the trade-offs consumers, make in this process, future research must account for the various aspects that play a part in the keep/waste decision.

It will be crucial to investigate the heterogeneity among customers while making these judgments, in addition to studying the waste decision in economic terms. In other words, we may be able to determine that customers are less likely to waste food when the cost of the food is high or when a substitute is easily available; nevertheless, some persons may be more or less receptive to such circumstances than the typical person (Schanes et al., 2018). Although money has been shown to influence a household’s chance of wasting food, additional characteristics such as age, education, SNAP membership, and so on should be considered as well (Schanes et al., 2018). Policymakers and advocacy groups may be able to better adapt educational efforts to high-waste households if they are aware of these variations.

References

Makov, T., Shepon, A., Krones, J., Gupta, C., & Chertow, M. (2020). Social and environmental analysis of food waste abatement via the peer-to-peer sharing economy. Nature communications, 11(1), 1-8.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-14899-5

Schanes, K., Dobernig, K., & Gözet, B. (2018). Food waste matters-A systematic review of household food waste practices and their policy implications. Journal of cleaner production, 182, 978-991. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2018.02.030