Optimising household food waste behaviour for diet quality and food security

Abstract

The aim of this thesis is to understand how to optimise householders’ food waste behaviour using a case study in the UK. The research contributes evidence for effective and targeted food waste behaviour interventions to reduce food waste for improved food security, diet quality and reduced greenhouse gas emissions. The thesis takes a three-paper structure with a final chapter that presents a collation of results into the Motivation, Abilities and Opportunities framework to assist well-rounded intervention planning. Drawing on international literature on household food waste, food security and diet quality as well as behavioural change theory and motivational theory, gaps were identified and three distinct research questions were posed. Systematic review, photographic food waste diary, sociodemographic survey, and qualitative interviews were selected as methods to address the research questions. Most published research examined sociodemographic variables and food waste using survey methods, or examined food waste in relation to avoidable food waste but not possibly avoidable food waste. There were also limitations in research that explored food waste in relation to diet quality and socio-demographic variables. The majority of research that was theory driven used models of behaviour change such as the Theory of Planned Behaviour, or frameworks such as the Motivation, Opportunities and Abilities framework. However, there was a lack of research exploring drivers for food waste behaviour using a motivational theory i.e., Self-Determination Theory. The research completed in this project provides evidence of what nudges are effective for household food waste behaviour change. It offers novel insights on statistically significant sociodemographic patterns of food waste by categories of avoidable and possibly avoidable food waste. Further, it demonstrates the utility of photographic data collection to identify categories of food waste in a large sample. The thesis collated primary data on the proportion of healthy (NOVA 1) food waste in total food waste in relation to categories of avoidable, unavoidable and possibly avoidable food waste. Finally, the research highlighted new insights on how to motivate and strengthen motivation for food waste reduction behaviours in households using the Self-Determination Theory. This assembly of new knowledge builds a case for household food waste interventions using a targeted approach based on sociodemographic characteristics. It also supports household food waste interventions using tailored personalised approaches to optimise motivational drivers for food waste behaviour change. Each of the three analytical papers presented contributes to further understanding of food waste in household settings to illuminate how interventions may work most effectively, and better target segments of the population. This collection of research can inform behaviour change interventions to optimise food waste behaviour for diet quality, food security, and by extension reduced greenhouse gas emissions.

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Identifiers

ORCID for Hannah Barker: orcid.org/0000-0003-2639-3503

ORCID for Dianna Smith: orcid.org/0000-0002-0650-6606

ORCID for Peter Shaw: orcid.org/0000-0003-0925-5010

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