DRIVERS OF HOUSEHOLD FOOD WASTE
2.1. INTRODUCTION
A general concern pertaining to sustainability globally, is the rapidly increasing amounts of edible food wasted at household level (Quested et al., 2013; WRAP, 2011). Subsequently, the Food and Agriculture Organization, among other institutions addressing the issue of food waste, reported that the world will be faced with food scarcity by the year 2050. Therefore, the
29 United Nations, through the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (goal 12.3) aimed to reduce the current global food waste by 2030 (UN, 2013; UN, 2015). In 2011, the FAO reported that about one-third of all food that is produced for human consumption is discarded annually (Steinfeld et al., 2006; Gustavsson et al., 2013). Food waste refers to food that is thrown away at the last stages of the food supply chain, such as at the household level (Gustavsson et al., 2013). This clearly shows that food waste is also linked to human behaviour (Jörissen et al., 2015; Cronjé et al., 2018; Ramukhwatho et al., 2018).
Various studieshave investigated the drivers of household food waste in an attempt to work together with the United Nations in developing context-based interventions, such as in Germany and Italy (Jörissen et al., 2015), Denmark (Stancu et al., 2016), Greece (Ponis et al., 2017), Israel (Elimelech et al., 2018), and South Africa (Oelofse and Pienaar, 2016; Chakona and Shackleton, 2017; Venter, 2017; Cronjé et al., 2018; Ramukhwatho et al., 2018). However, despite the growing interest in food waste globally, there remains a gap in understanding the nature and magnitude of the drivers of household food waste. An examination of these drivers in various contexts is necessary to provide insight into the variation and thereby effective and flexible policies for minimising household food waste (Thyberg and Tonjes, 2016).
According to Diaz-Ruiz et al. (2018), household food waste drivers are divided into five categories, namely (1) unnecessary food purchasing; (2) lack of food storage; (3) over- preparation of food; (4) less food consumption which leads to leftover food, and (5) careless lifestyle of household members in relation to food. Some studies further grouped the afore- mentioned into two categories; i.e. consumer wasting behaviours when shopping, and those at home (Jörissen et al., 2015; Ramukhwatho et al., 2016; Chakona and Shackleton, 2017;
Aschemann-Witzel et al., 2018). The behaviours related to shopping include not using shopping lists (Ramukhwatho et al., 2014), increased shopping frequency, buying more food than needed because of special offers, the inability to distinguish between “Use by” and “Best before” dates (Graham-Rowe et al., 2014; Jörissen et al., 2015) and excessive food purchasing (WRAP 2007; Parfitt et al., 2010; Diaz-Ruiz et al., 2018).
In terms of consumer behaviour at home, poor meal planning and food dislikes are the most identified drivers (Stefen et al., 2013; HLPE, 2014; Parizeau et al., 2015; Mallinson et al., 2016). Porpino et al. (2015) also identified over-preparation of food and avoidance of use of leftover foods as antecedents of food waste in low-income households in Brazil. This is because some view leftover food as “psychologically contaminated” (Rozin, 2014), so many people
30 often avoid eating leftovers. Additionally, Porpino et al. (2015) and Mallinson et al. (2016) revealed that leaving food too long in the fridge or in the cupboard is also a behaviour that counteracts efforts to minimise the amounts of food wasted.
In South Africa several drivers of household food waste have been identified. One is a lack of proper storage to preserve food from spoiling (Chakona and Shackleton, 2017; Ramukhwatho et al., 2018). Additionally, Ramukhwatho et al. (2018) reported that some households in Pretoria threw away food because of misaligned shopping behaviours, such as falling for special offers or buying more food than they need. This culture has led to many households discarding large amounts of food, especially vegetables and fruits, because they generally have a short shelf-life and require proper storage, which many households in South Africa lack (Cronjé et al., 2018). Cronjé et al. (2018) also determined purchasing in bulk, purchasing incorrect food items, and the tendency to not eat leftovers as common drivers of food waste.
In terms of consumer behaviours at home, Cronjé et al. (2018) found that a lack of meal planning among households in Kimberly, South Africa, was prevalent (70%) and this behaviour contributed significantly to food waste generation. The behaviours contributing to food waste among mid-sized towns in KwaZulu-Natal were either cooking too much food or being unable to save leftovers (Chakona and Shackleton, 2017), with similar behaviours reported in urban middle to high-income households in Tshwane (Oelofse and Pienaar, 2016).
Furthermore, Oelofse and Pienaar (2016) reported avoidance of unappealing food; consumers’
concerns about the safety of family members regarding certain purchased food products and lack of information about the perishability of certain food products, were also among the behaviours at home, which have influenced food waste generation in South African households.
While the above-mentioned South African studies investigated the drivers of food waste, they are mostly from large cities and none from the Eastern Cape. Taking account of the evident limitation in primary household food waste data within South Africa, and a need to ensure the development of effective interventions for households, Cronjé et al. (2018) argue that more research is required on the drivers of household food waste across the country (Cronjé et al., 2018).
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2.1.1. Aims and Objectives
Centred on the reviewed food waste literature, the aim of this study is to assess household food waste in urban households in the Eastern Cape province. To fulfil this aim, the study addressed the following objectives:
• Explore whether there are any significant differences in food shopping behaviours between towns and within the suburbs.
• Explore whether there are any significant differences in household food waste behaviours between towns and within the suburbs.
• Explore the relationship between the explored food shopping and household food waste behaviours and household characteristics such as gender, age, number of children, employment status, number of people employed, wealth status, household size, social grants.
As such, the focus of this study was to investigate the drivers of and the reasons for food waste among low-income, middle-income and the affluent suburbs in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. Shopping patterns, household food waste behaviours were also investigated. It was hypothesised that:
• Households in the affluent suburbs would purchase food more frequently compared to their counterparts, in the low-income suburbs.
• Households in the affluent suburbs would have a higher proportion of people using shopping lists when buying food.
• Households in the low-income suburbs would have a higher number of people growing some food because of limited cash resources.
• A larger proportion of households buying discounted food would be from the low- income suburbs.
• A larger proportion of households with people who are knowledgeable about the distinction between “Use by” and “Best before’ date would be from the affluent suburbs.
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