Transcript Food waste and consumer attitudes - IIIEE

Food waste and
consumer attitudes
LAC Project
Simon Bager
EMP Batch 19 – Lund University
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Today’s talk
• Introduction
• Food waste – globally and locally
• The role of consumers
• Other actors
• Methods
• Consumer survey
• Interviews
• External data
• Results
• Descriptive statistics
• Cross-tabulations
• Who, what, how much, why, what to do?
• Discussion
• Discussion of method and results
• How to move ahead?
• Further research
• Gaps? (Information, value-action)
• Conclusion
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What is food waste?
Food waste on a global and local scale
The role of consumers
Other actors
INTRODUCTION
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Why is this topic important?
• Enormous amounts of food are wasted
• Roughly one-third of food produced for human consumption,
about 1.3 billion tonnes per year, gets lost or wasted globally—
the equivalent of 6-10 % of human-generated greenhouse gas
emissions (Gustavsson et al., 2011; Vermeulen et al., 2012 for the
calculation on emissions)
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Why is this topic important?
• It is a hidden problem
• The much debated amount of food produced for biofuels is less
than half of the total food waste (Stuart, 2009 after IFPRI)
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Why is this topic important?
• The benefits of dealing with the problem are many
• Reducing food waste has minimal negative consequences
• it is not simply the carbon emissions associated with food waste
that are problematic, but also the unnecessary consumption of
resources and the social injustice that food waste perpetuates.
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Why is this topic important?
• We can all do something about it!
• For each kilo of food not wasted, GHG emissions can be reduced
by roughly 2 kg CO2eq (SSM, n.d.), which means that the
environmental benefits from curbing food waste are massive.
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Source: CCAFS, 2012 after FAO, 2012
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Sources:
CCAFS, 2012
UN-DESA, 2011
Dietary changes
More demand for
meat =
more demand for
crops to feed
animals =
more demand for
land.
More than 1.4
billion adults—one
out of every five—
are overweight.
One out of every
ten is obese.
By 2050, food
production must be
60% higher than
today to meet
demand.
Sources: Alexandratos and Bruinsma, 2012; CCAFS, 2012
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Food waste - global
• Food waste is a global problem
• Research indicates that around a third of all food is wasted
• Problems are not uniform
• Food waste in low-income countries: harvest/post-harvest losses,
storage, infrastructure
• Food waste in Europe and US: Retailers and consumers
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Food waste - local
• The waste I/you/we can do something about
• Generated by supermarkets and consumers
• In western Europe, most
food is wasted by consumers.
• Changing this requires education, raising public awareness, and
changed consumer attitudes (Biswas & Ching, 2011)
• Some of the losses might also be attributed to price. High income,
low prices –> less incentive not to waste
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The role of consumers
• Lack of information?
• Much research point to the fact that many consumers are simply not
aware of how much food they waste, and as such, not aware of the
financial losses suffered (Stuart, 2009; FoE, 2011; Ritzau, 2011).
• Does anyone know how much is wasted?
• Denmark: every citizen wastes 63 kilos of food every year (Ritzau, 2011).
• DenmarK: consumers waste roughly 125 kg of food every year, and 60-65 kg of
unspoiled food are thrown directly in the trashcan, the equivalent of 15-20% of
the food actually bought (Mogensen et al., 2011: 18).
• UK/US: numbers are 70 kg and 96 kg per capita, respectively (Stuart, 2009: 72)
• Per-capita consumer waste is estimated to be 95 to 115 kg per year for Europe
and North America (Gustavsson et al. 2011)
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Other actors – legislative bodies
Legislative changes
• Relaxing the standards on what
constitutes food for humans or by
changing rules for food labelling
(Batty, 2011) (e.g. size and shape)
• “On farms, photographic sensors scan
all harvested carrots and reject those
that are crooked, dull, blemished, too
thin or too fat. As a result, 25 to 30%
of carrots end up as animal feed even
though they pose no health risk to
humans.” (Biswas & Ching, 2011)
• Allowing food waste to be fed to farm animals
• “The Pig Idea” – initiative launched at World Environment Day
• “Humans have been recycling food waste by feeding it to pigs for thousands
of years. … Cutting down rainforest in the Amazon to grow pig feed for pigs in
Europe makes no sense.”
“We aim to lift the EU ban on the feeding of catering waste to pigs”
• Subsidies
• EU rules encourage surplus production that ends up as waste
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Other actors - supermarkets
• Holds extensive power within the value chain
In the traditional business model, they have an interest in encouraging waste at all
stages:
• Pre-retail: Encourages waste as some products are discarded on cosmetic grounds
Retail: high waste rate by stocking only fresh products
• Post-retail: “3 for the prize of 2” is generally more profitable than selling one. This
encourages domestic waste, as consumers buy more than they need.
• What is “fit for consumption”?
• EC has changed the rules; rigorous standards mostly enforced by supermarkets
• (In DK) supermarkets generate an average of 200 kg of food waste a week
• There is a marked difference in the type of food waste generated depending on the
type of supermarket, but vegetables (47%), fruit (27%) and bread constitutes the
largest fractions of food waste in the retail business (Mogensen et al., 2011: 18).
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Consumer survey
Interviews
External data
METHODS
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Consumer survey
•
•
•
•
24 questions (2 of these to identify audience)
Distributed online through social media
Survey opened March 2013, closed 31 May 2013
240 surveys started, 217 completely finished.
• About 40 respondents from local supermarket
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Data
• Journals and reports:
•
•
•
•
World agriculture towards 2030/2050: the 2012 revision.
FAO - the state of food insecurity in the world 2012
Global food losses and food waste.
The climate change and economic impacts of food waste in the United
States
• Climate change and food systems.
• Books:
• Tristram Stuart (2009) Waste
• Schaldemose & Engelbrecht (2011) Foodfight.eu
• Movies and campaigns:
•
•
•
•
Taste the Waste (http://www.tastethewaste.com/)
Think, Eat, Save (http://www.thinkeatsave.org/)
Stop Wasting Food (http://www.stopspildafmad.dk/inenglish.html)
The Pig Idea (http://www.thepigidea.org/)
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Descriptive statistics
Cross-tabulations
Interpreting the results - Who, what, how much, why,
what to do?
RESULTS
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Descriptive statistics - Target audience
Survey:
• Audience:
• Female: 67% (154)
• Male: 33% (76)
• Age:
• 80% age 20-29
• 7% age 40+
Answer
Response
%
0-19
12
5%
20-29
186
80%
30-39
18
8%
40-49
9
4%
50-59
5
2%
60+
3
1%
Total
233
100%
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Thinking about food waste
• Are you conscious as to how much food you waste?
• Yes: 82% (190)
• No: 18% (41)
• Do you feel bad about throwing out leftovers and other edible food?
• Yes: 90% (195)
• No: 10% (21)
• Which of the following would you define as food waste?
Answer
Response
%
Food waste is throwing out food that could have been eaten by yourself or others
216
93%
Food waste is throwing out cooking scraps (orange peels, bones, pea pods, etc.)
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19%
Food waste is buying more food than you really need.
174
75%
Food waste is throwing out a piece of fruit because it is
bruised/blemished/wrinkled.
122
53%
Food waste is throwing out food because it has been on the table.
168
72%
Food waste is throwing out the last part of a tube/container/bottle, because you
can’t easily get it out.
122
53%
• Avoidable / unavoidable food waste?
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What do people do with ‘old’ food?
• Do you throw out food when it is past the ‘best before date’?
• Yes: 37% (84)
• No: 63% (146)
• If no, what do you then do?
• Smell (89%), taste (57%), other (10%) – ”Duh, I look at it”
• Do you throw out food when it is past the ‘expiry date’?
• Yes: 47% (107)
• No: 53% (120)
• If no, what do you then do?
• Smell (92%), taste (55%), other (10%) – ”Texture”
There is a difference in actions
amongst the two scenarios,
but not statistically significant.
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Food waste
How much of your food would
you say you waste?
How much food do you think
is wasted globally?
• Do/did you know the answer?
• Why the big difference?
MY WASTE
Answer
Response
%
Nothing
5
2%
Less than 10%
150
70%
About a fifth (20%)
53
25%
A third or more (30-40%)
5
2%
About half (50% or more)
2
1%
Total
215
100%
GLOBAL WASTE
Answer
Response
%
Almost nothing - less than
5%
0
0%
Around a tenth (10%)
4
2%
Around a fifth (20%)
39
18%
Around a third (33%)
98
45%
Almost half (50%)
75
35%
Total
216
100%
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Cross-tabulations – 1
‘Environmental consciousness and
perceptions of domestic food waste
• People who consider themselves environmentally friendly also
believe they waste less food
• People who do not consider themselves environmentally friendly
probably have a more realistic estimate of their actual waste
• Are we fooling ourselves?
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Age and perception of waste
• Young people and women have a better perception of own waste..
• .. but everyone is (within statistical uncertainty) equally
knowledgeable about the scale of global waste.
• Why is this the case?
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Initiatives
• Supermarket initiatives
- Would you buy food with an
expiration date today or tomorrow
at a discount (say, 30-50% off the
original price)?
Amongst the group surveyed, there is
room for implementing similar
initiatives elsewhere.
• Legislative changes
- Would you buy weird-looking food
(crooked cucumbers, apples with
spots, very large/small potatoes,
etc.) if you were given an incentive
such as a discount?
There seems to be a market for selling
‘misshaped’ produce
Answer
Response
%
No, I don't want to buy
old food.
18
8%
Not with a 30% discount,
but perhaps with 50-75%
off.
13
6%
Depends on the good.
84
39%
Yes, I would do so.
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16%
Yes, I am already doing
so.
110
51%
Answer
Response
%
Yes, I would even buy it at
no discount.
68
32%
Yes, at 10% off or more.
53
25%
Yes, but it would have to
be at a significant
discount (say, 50%).
46
21%
No
48
26
22%
Initiatives
Supermarket initiatives
• Irma’s ‘Date service’ initiative
• Rema 1000 cancels ”Buy 1, get 2”
Consumer initiatives
• ?
Legislative initiatives
• ”The crooked cucumber”
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Cross-tabulations – 3
‘Best before’ date & WTB ‘different’ food
Customers that throw out food on ‘best before’ date are less willing
to buy food that expires soon, but this does not seem to affect their
willingness to buy weirdly shaped goods.
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Dumpster diving
• Definition: Taking edible, non-spoiled
food out of a supermarket container
• Issues?
• Safety
• Ethical
• Economic
• Age trend? Gender trend?
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Interpreting the results – the ”valueaction gap”
• During the last week, how
many times did you throw
out edible food?
• How does this compare to the
120 kg of food wasted every
year by every citizen?
(statistically, we waste
320 g. food/day).
• Why is it like this?
Answer
Response
%
Several times (more than
5 times)
4
2%
It has happened more
often than not (3-4 times)
23
10%
It happened (1-2 times)
145
63%
I did not throw out edible
food (0 times)
60
26%
Total
232
100%
• apparent ‘discrepancy’ between stated beliefs (and values)
and behaviour, which comprises the so-called ‘value-action
gap’. Various writers have observed this in different contexts.
• We believe we are ethical consumers, yet our actions prove
that we are indeed wasteful.
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Value-action gap 2
• When you cook a meal,
do you usually have food
left?
• Can we believe these
responses, in view of what
we just learned?
• Can targeting this be a
solution?
• What would you do with a
small portion of leftovers?
• Is this a solution?
• “eat it (forcing myself a
little)” .. 
Answer
Response
%
Yes, always (4 out of 5
times or more).
22
10%
Most of the time (3 out of
5 times).
70
32%
It happens (2 out of 5
times ).
80
37%
Almost never (0-1 out of 5
times).
45
21%
Total
217
100%
Answer
Response
%
Throw it out.
21
10%
Eat it for lunch next day.
185
85%
Freeze it for later use.
76
35%
Use it as ingredients in
another dish
108
50%
Give it to the dog/other
animal (if applicable).
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17%
Other (please specify)
4
2%
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Value-action gap 3
• The waste we don’t realize we are creating
• When you shop, do you pick
Answer
the freshest item on the shelf, Yes, always.
Yes, most of the time.
regardless of when you need
Sometimes, but only if I
to use it?
discover that the one I
• Almost everyone does this.
• What are the consequences
of this?
• How can we change this?
Response
%
69
32%
83
38%
41
19%
No, I don't really think
about it.
24
11%
Total
217
100%
selected expires soon.
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Discussion of methods and results
How to move ahead?
DISCUSSION
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Discussion of methods
• Gender and age bias
• Most respondents were
young women (20-29)
• Limited sample size
• (217 respondents)
• Statistically significant?
• Extrapolation?
• Interpretation limited by statistical uncertainty
• How to interpret results in this context?
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Discussion of results
• People feel bad about wasting food – but do it anyway
• We waste more than we think
• Value-action gap
• Open to new suggestions and initiatives
• Dateservice
• ”Crooked cucumber”
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How to move forward?
• How do we combat food waste?
• Legislative changes
• Size and shape (e.g. ”the crooked cucumber)
• Labelling and packaging (e.g. selling produce by unit/weight)
• Health and safety (e.g. best before and/or expiry date)
• Value changes
• Consumer attitudes
• Information campaigns
• Initiatives
• Retail driven (e.g. ”Date service”)
• NGO/Organization driven (e.g. ”Think Eat Save”)
• Consumer driven (e.g. Stop wasting food)
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Further research needed?
• What do we need to know to
combat food waste at retail
and consumer level?
• Scale of problem
• Information
• Legislation?
• Will voluntary actions from
supermarkets and consumers
be enough?
• Supermarket chain Tesco has pledged
to use its scale and clout to
reduce the amount of food
wasted by its customers and
elsewhere in its international
supply chain.
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What else can we do?
• Use Apps to help you:
• The Green Egg Shopper, Leloca, Gojee, 222 million tons
• Browse websites and campaigns:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Think. Eat. Save. (UN) (http://www.thinkeatsave.org)
Stop Wasting Food (DK) (http://www.stopspildafmad.dk/)
The Pig Idea (http://www.thepigidea.org/)
LOVE FOOD, hate waste (UK) (http://www.lovefoodhatewaste.com/)
SAVE FOOD Initiative (EU) (http://www.save-food.org/)
Slow Food Movement (EU) (http://www.slowfood.com/)
Taste the Waste (DE) (http://www.tastethewaste.com/)
Environmental Protection Agency (US) Food Recovery Challenge
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CONCLUSION
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Conclusion
General:
• Food waste is a major global problem
• Food waste occur in all parts of the food chain
• Food waste in high-income countries occur late in the value chain
• Food waste is widespread for all food items, but some are highly
problematic
• Retailers play a major role in regulating waste pre-sale and sale
• Consumers play a major role regulating waste sale and post-sale
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Conclusion
Survey:
• People do not like to waste food
• .. but they do so anyway
• .. at larger scale than imagined
• Previous research found this as well.
• Value-action gap?
• But..
• Consumers are open to new initiatives
• Initiatives do actually reduce waste
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Thank you..
• Questions?
Green is not just a colour – it’s a way of life
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References
• Alexandratos N, Bruinsma J. 2012. World agriculture towards 2030/2050: the 2012
revision. ESA Working Paper 12-03. Rome: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United
Nations (FAO). (Available from http://www.fao.org/docrep/016/ap106e/ap106e.pdf)
• [FAO] Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. 2012. The state of food
insecurity in the world 2012: Economic growth is necessary but not sufficient to accelerate
reduction of hunger and malnutrition. Rome: FAO. (Available
fromhttp://www.fao.org/publications/sofi/en/)
• Gustavsson J, Cederberg C, Sonesson U, van Otterdijk R, Meybeck A. 2011. Global food
losses and food waste. Rome: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
(FAO). (Available fromhttp://www.fao.org/fileadmin/user_upload/ags/publications/
GFL_web.pdf)
• Schaldemose C, Engelbrecht B. 2011. Foodfight.EU. Copenhagen, Denmark: Sohn
• Stuart T. 2009. Waste – Uncovering the global food scandal. London, UK: Penguin
• Venkat K. 2011. The climate change and economic impacts of food waste in the United
States. International Journal of Food System Dynamics 2(4):431-446.
• Vermeulen SJ, Campbell BM, Ingram J SI. 2012. Climate change and food systems. Annual
Review of Environmental Resources 37. (Available
from http://www.annualreviews.org/doi/abs/10.1146/ annurev-environ-020411-130608)
• [UN-DESA] United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs. 2011. World
population prospects: the 2010 revision. Population Division of the Department of
Economic and Social Affairs of the United Nations Secretariat. New York. (Available
fromhttp://esa.un.org/unpd/wpp/index.htm)
• [WHO] World Health Organization. 2012. Obesity and overweight. Fact sheet n°311.
Geneva: WHO. (Available fromhttp://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs311/en/)
• Rob Flynn, Paul Bellaby and Miriam Ricci. 2010. The ‘value-action gap’ in public attitudes
towards sustainable energy: the case of hydrogen energy. In: Bob Carter and Nickie Charles
(eds.) Society, nature and sociology.
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