Tell Me What You Waste and I’ll Tell You Who You Are: An Eight-Country Comparison of Consumers’ Food Waste Habits

Elisa Iori, Matteo Masotti (), Luca Falasconi, Enzo Risso, Andrea Segrè and Matteo Vittuari
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Elisa Iori: Department of Agricultural and Food Sciences, University of Bologna, 40127 Bologna, Italy
Matteo Masotti: Department of Agricultural and Food Sciences, University of Bologna, 40127 Bologna, Italy
Luca Falasconi: Department of Agricultural and Food Sciences, University of Bologna, 40127 Bologna, Italy
Enzo Risso: IPSOS s.r.l., via Tolmezzo 32, 20132 Milano, Italy
Andrea Segrè: Department of Agricultural and Food Sciences, University of Bologna, 40127 Bologna, Italy
Matteo Vittuari: Department of Agricultural and Food Sciences, University of Bologna, 40127 Bologna, Italy

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 15, issue 1, 1-27

Abstract: Using an original survey conducted in eight countries in 2021 (Canada, China, Germany, Italy, Russia, Spain, the UK, and the USA), this study explored the relationship between household food waste and dietary habits through a cross-country comparative perspective. In total, 8000 questionnaires were recorded from samples representative of the adult population of each country through an online survey conducted between the 13th and the 24th of August. The questionnaires were developed from the Waste Watcher International Observatory on Food and Sustainability, an international study of the social, behavioral, and lifestyle dynamics behind household food waste. The relationships between the per capita self-reported amount of food waste (expressed in kilocalories) and self-declared dietary habits (traditional, healthy and sustainable, vegetarian, smart, and confused) were estimated using multiple linear regression models. The results showed that smart diets are associated with higher values of food waste in Canada, Spain, the UK, and the USA. Vegetarian diets are associated with lower food waste values in China, Germany, the UK, and the USA, but not in Italy, Russia, and Spain. The share of the population adopting a smart diet was, on average, 2.7% of the sample; therefore, interventions for food waste reduction should focus on these specific types of consumers, who are often associated with larger amounts of food waste.

Keywords: household food waste; diets; food choices; dietary patterns; sustainable behaviors; sustainable consumption (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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