Enhancing Food and Nutrition Literacy: A Key Strategy for Reducing Food Waste and Improving Diet Quality

Silvia Lisciani (), Emanuela Camilli and Stefania Marconi
Additional contact information
Silvia Lisciani: CREA-Research Centre for Food and Nutrition, Via Ardeatina 546, 00178 Rome, Italy
Emanuela Camilli: CREA-Research Centre for Food and Nutrition, Via Ardeatina 546, 00178 Rome, Italy
Stefania Marconi: CREA-Research Centre for Food and Nutrition, Via Ardeatina 546, 00178 Rome, Italy

Sustainability, 2024, vol. 16, issue 5, 1-16

Abstract: Excessive food purchases, improper storage, incorrect food preparation, and the disposal of non-expired products contribute significantly to household food waste. Food and nutritional literacy can, therefore, be linked to household food waste and not just to diet quality. Consumers with high food literacy appear to better organize their food shopping and waste less than people with low food literacy. Different studies have demonstrated the association between high nutritional literacy, healthy eating habits, and a high amount of food waste, represented by highly perishable products. The relationship between a high-quality diet and food waste is mainly attributable to the consumption of fruit and vegetables, while an unhealthy diet is associated with fewer leftovers due to the high consumption of ultra-processed foods with a long shelf life. Social and economic conditions influence the effects of literacy on the production of domestic food waste. Many studies have reported that low-income individuals rarely waste food, while richer ones tend to produce more leftovers. The challenge for the scientific, educational, and health policy sectors is to promote the consumption of fresh, healthy, and inexpensive foods, especially in the most disadvantaged segments of the population, and at the same time, provide the knowledge necessary to limit the production of household waste.

Keywords: nutrition literacy; food waste; food literacy; awareness campaign (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/5/1726/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/5/1726/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:16:y:2024:i:5:p:1726-:d:1342049

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().