Informative initiatives as a useful tool to raise awareness of food waste. An application to higher education
International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education
ISSN: 1467-6370
Article publication date: 24 October 2022
Issue publication date: 15 March 2023
Abstract
Purpose
Because food waste is a serious problem today, society is currently aiming for more responsible consumption to minimize it, as defined in the 12th goal of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. This study aims to examine whether an informative initiative can help to raise university students’ awareness of food waste consequences.
Design/methodology/approach
The initiative consisted of explaining the problem of food waste to students of two marketing subject modules within economics and business administration degrees and asking them to participate in an activity in which they analyzed their own behavior. To assess its impact, two questionnaires about the students’ food waste behaviors were administered, before and after the initiative, adopting an experimental design.
Findings
The results show that the information and awareness activities were successful, because, after the initiative, the students were more aware about the food waste problem and its consequences and were more critical of their behavior regarding the management of leftovers at home.
Research limitations/implications
Despite some circumstances under which the study was conducted (the COVID-19 pandemic and the lockdown), the practical and social implications are relevant.
Practical implications
This study offers some interesting practical implications for educational institutions that want to inform and train students in more responsible consumption behavior. It shows that an initiative in which students are involved, like collecting data about food waste, in their homes with a diary, and informative sessions can be useful to increase students’ awareness of food waste to behave in a more sustainable way.
Social implications
These findings may be of interest to academics for designing initiatives that try to train and educate young people in making more responsible personal and professional decisions.
Originality/value
This study analyzes the impact of an awareness-raising initiative about food waste in higher education, which is a relatively neglected topic in the literature.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The authors wish to express their gratitude for the financial support received from the prize awarded by the Government of Aragón and the University of Zaragoza on responsible consumption (2018). This work was also supported by the Ministry of Science and Innovation [Grant PID2020-114874GB-I00 funded by MCIN/AEI/ 10.13039/501100011033]; The Educational innovation project from the University of Zaragoza [PIIDUZ_252]; The Government of Aragón and the European Social Fund [GENERES Group S-54_20R]; and the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Digital Transformation [PID2020-118425RBI00]. Finally, this work is part of the Institute for Research on Employment, Digital Society and Sustainability (IEDIS).
Citation
Fraj-Andrés, E., Herrando, C., Lucia-Palacios, L. and Pérez-López, R. (2023), "Informative initiatives as a useful tool to raise awareness of food waste. An application to higher education", International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education, Vol. 24 No. 4, pp. 840-858. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJSHE-03-2022-0103
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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