Reframing communications that encourage individuals to reduce food waste

Abstract

The waste of edible food throughout the food chain is recognised as a global issue and academic research focuses on how to encourage reductions in this waste. At the consumer level, governments are investing in communication campaigns that encourage individuals to reduce the amount of edible food discarded in their home-based activities. The specific aims of this paper were to identify causes of food waste and what experts recommend for reducing the problem, to identify gaps between information provided in food waste communication campaigns and the experts recommendations, and finally to empirically identify further gaps between individuals’ knowledge of food waste with a framework of the expert recommendations. In terms of findings, the literature review identified a range of causes and nine relevant expert recommendations for reducing this waste. An evaluation of a number of major consumer-focused communication campaigns available in Australia and New Zealand provided evidence that these campaigns were addressing some of the recommendations from experts. A subsequent qualitative investigation of household members’ knowledge of the issues of food discard showed that individuals’ understandings can be prioritised in terms of the expert recommendations and the communication messages in the campaigns. Further research is identified based on these findings.