Households, Retailers and Food Waste Transitions

In recent years, concerns about the origins and consequences of food waste have risen to prominence in the realms of food policy, cultural politics and environmental debate. For example, a recent report by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO, 2011) estimates that globally, one third of the food produced for consumption gets wasted - 1.3 billion tonnes annually. Food waste is tied to a number of economic, social and environmental problems including food security, food poverty, de-forestation and greenhouse gas emissions. Accordingly, it is an issue that is firmly on the agenda in regional, national and international politics. For example, the European Parliament recently passed a resolution to tackle the problem and called on the European Commission to half current volumes of food waste by 2025. In the UK it is understood as a problem that occurs towards the end of the food chain, at the level of the household (WRAP, 2011). Against this backdrop, retailers are increasingly seen to be engaging with households and consumers to help reduce the amount of food that they waste.

This project will explore how and why the reduction of food waste has emerged as a priority at this point in time, and the reasons why households and retailers are assuming responsibilities for reducing it. In order to do so, it will analyze the content of secondary data sources including policy documents, company reports, print media and campaigning materials. The research will also involve 20 in-depth qualitative interviews with retailers and other stakeholders (including activists, charities and third sector organizations) in order to explore the ways in which the challenge of food waste reduction is being framed, interpreted and responded to. Particular attention will be paid to retailers and the ways in which they are working with their customers in order to reduce household food waste. The project will analyze quantitative datasets (existing surveys of eating habits in the UK) that can be used to develop social scientific perspectives on food waste. These perspectives will build on qualitative accounts (for example Evans, 2011) that emphasize the importance of locating food waste in relation to the organization of everyday life (e.g. when people eat), cultural conventions (e.g. understandings of what constitutes a 'proper meal'), household dynamics (e.g. negotiating the tastes and preferences of children and partners) and, the range of actors that together make up systems of food production and consumption (e.g. retailers and food producers).

In addition to carrying out new research, this project will work closely with other organizations that collect data on household food waste (for example WRAP) or are involved in efforts to reduce it. Through a series of multi-stakeholder workshops and exhibitions - involving academic researchers, retailers, non-governmental organizations and policy makers - this project will develop state of the art thinking about household food waste and identify innovative practical mechanisms for changing consumer behavior to reduce it. However it will look beyond the household in order to take a more holistic view that considers the roles a range of state and non-state actors might play in bringing about longer term, larger scale transitions in the food system with a view to waste reduction.

The reduction of food waste is an issue that currently engages a wide range of stakeholders. This project will develop understandings and insights into the causes of food waste, will identify novel approaches for managing it at the level of the household, and stimulate debate about how waste might be prevented via broader changes in the food system. Further, it will do so in close collaboration with a number of relevant stakeholders.

The main beneficiaries of this research are as follows:

1) Retailers and businesses that are currently developing strategies to help their customers reduce the amount of food that they waste.

This project will be co-funded by Tesco, precisely because they are interested in understanding why households waste food and what they could or should be doing in order to tackle it. The proposed research will be used to inform the development and direction of the campaign that they are starting to plan in order to help their customers reduce the amount of food that they waste. Additionally, other retailers are working towards similar objectives and the proposed research will make social scientific perspectives on household food waste and behavioral change available to them.

2) Policy Makers who have identified the importance of reducing the amount of food that is wasted at the level of the household.

Reducing food waste is a concern that is manifest at many different levels ranging from Local Authorities, through national (e.g. Defra) and regional (e.g. the Scottish Government) policy makers through to supra-national bodies such as the European Union and the United Nations. The proposed research will develop the evidence base that informs policy making and legislation at all of these levels, both in terms of why food waste is occurring and how it might be reduced.

3) Non-Governmental Organizations who are involved in developing campaigns to reduce household food waste.

It is not just government bodies that have an interest in reducing household food waste. A number of other organizations are playing an important role, most notably WRAP - the Waste and Resources Action Programme but also the Institution of Mechanical Engineers who published a high profile report on the extent of problems associated with food waste (IMechE, 2013) and charities such as Waste Watch (now part of Keep Britain Tidy). Again, the proposed research will develop the evidence base that can be drawn upon to inform strategies for household food waste reduction.

4) Households and Citizens

In developing strategies to reduce food waste, this project has the potential to benefit households. Existing research suggests that households are anxious about the food that they waste and are looking for help and advice in reducing it. Additionally, it is estimated that preventing food waste could save the average family £680 a year.

More generally, this project has the potential to be of use to members of these groups (especially policy makers and Non-Governmental Organizations) who are not directly interested in food waste but are interested in household dynamics and behavioral change.