Mottainai!—A Practice Theoretical Analysis of Japanese Consumers’ Food Waste Reduction

Food waste prevention and reduction: Practices, cultural and personal determinants

Food waste is a pressing global issue with profound social, environmental, and economic implications, prompting an urgent need for a comprehensive understanding of its sources. In the current study, we explored the role of cultural and personal determinants in food management practices. We operationalized two food practices - prevention of food waste by inventory and meal management and reduction of food waste by leftovers management, and explored how they are shaped by personal and cultural determinants. We asked 1200 respondents, three types of questions about their (1) cultural and personal attributes, such as their ethical and religious values; (2) lifestyle and dietary habits, such as their frequency of eating out, and (3) sociodemographic characteristics. We modeled the association between these three types of questions and the two food management practices utilizing a hierarchical multiple regression model. The results indicate that ascribing significant importance to hospitality is associated with less proficiency in inventory and meal management. Those who place a high priority on hospitality preparedness are proficient in managing leftovers but less proficient in inventory and meal management. In addition, individuals with strong ethical and religious views against food wastage tend to manage their inventory and meals poorly but excel at handling surplus food. Finally, secular Ashkenazi Israelis tend to engage in better practices to prevent and reduce food waste. The results also stress the differences between practices to prevent food waste and those to reduce it, opening a promising avenue for future research.

Validity and reliability of the Japanese version of the sustainability consciousness questionnaire

The sustainable development goals (SDGs) are required to be achieved by 2030, and measurement indicators are needed to properly visualize individual efforts toward SDGs. Here, we developed a Japanese version of the Sustainability Consciousness Questionnaire (SCQ), the most well-known individual measure of SDGs, and examined its reliability and validity. Three online surveys were conducted with 1,268 Japanese adults. The results of confirmatory factor analysis showed that the Japanese version of the SCQ consists of two single-level factors: sustainability knowingness/attitude and sustainability behavior. These two factors demonstrated sufficient internal consistency by Cronbach's alpha and McDonald's omega coefficient, which ensured measurement reliability. Additionally, cocorrelations with other scales indicated that the higher the level of sustainability knowledge and attitude, the less positive attitude toward climate change and the higher the level of sustainability behavior, indicating the construct validity of these factors. These results indicate that the Japanese version of the SCQ is reliable and valid.

Between perceptions and practices: The religious and cultural aspects of food wastage in households

Understanding the determinants of food provisioning is crucial for efforts to reduce household food wastage. Various studies have identified a web of interrelated socio-demographic characteristics, values, attitudes, and skills as drivers of household food wastage. Our contribution is in exploring the relationship between cultural and religious views and food waste generation. We do that in the context of three social groups in Israel: secular Jews, religious Jews, and Muslim Arabs. We interviewed 27 individuals who have a certain standing in their respective communities with broad perspective of the cultural context of food-related issues. Our results highlight the conflict between religious and secular values and actual food wastage practices. We identified several factors that lead to household food wastage: past scarcity, the consumer culture, and hospitality. We found various ways by which cultural and religious values shape food-waste perceptions. Results show a dissonance between food-related motivations and actual practices. We also demonstrate how the dissonance can be reconciled, both on the level of justification and on the level of action.

The Clean Your Plate Campaign: Resisting Table Food Waste in an Unstable World

The COVID-19 pandemic threatens global food security and has created an urgent need for food conservation. This article presents a review of clean plate campaigns around the world. It aims to fight food waste and reveal the factors that may influence food waste. The Clean Plate Club in the US developed during wartime and relied heavily on political power for compliance, whereas the Clean Plate movement in South Korea was based on religion. China’s Clean Your Plate Campaign (CYPC) has gone through two stages: CYPC I and CYPC II. The latter occurred during the unstable period of the COVID-19 pandemic. It was large-scale and more strongly enforced than CYPC I. In China, CYPC has relied more on personal virtue than on politics or religion. Culture, policy, COVID-19, and behavior are all important social factors that influence food waste. Specifically, two cultural values are drivers of food waste in China: hospitality and face-saving (mianzi). In terms of policy, China’s food waste law mainly relies on persuasion; it lacks any power of enforcement. Laws in France and Italy, by contrast, focus on re-using food and involve both coercion and incentives. COVID-19 may have led to panic purchasing and stockpiling, but, in general, it has resulted in a reduction in food waste.

Fridge studies - Rummage through the fridge to understand food waste

Household food waste is a significant environmental challenge, and almost half of the total global food waste comes from households. Thus, it is crucial to understand why food is wasted at home. This paper proposes a new method, Fridge Studies, that provides knowledge on food waste drivers adding to the research currently documenting the amounts and types of food wasted. Fridge studies is based on social practice theory, suggesting that waste is produced through food handling practices. By rummaging through the fridge together with the study participants, this method provides thick descriptions of practices that generate food waste in an efficient manner. Researchers and participants talk while rummaging, selecting food items and telling their story, as well as photographing the fridge and its content. The method was developed as part of three projects on sustainable food consumption in Norway and has been employed in 57 households.

COVID-19-Related Changes in Perceived Household Food Waste in the United States: A Cross-Sectional Descriptive Study

Food waste contributes to adverse environmental and economic outcomes, and substantial food waste occurs at the household level in the US. This study explored perceived household food waste changes during the COVID-19 pandemic and related factors. A total of 946 survey responses from primary household food purchasers were analyzed. Demographic, COVID-19-related household change, and household food waste data were collected in October 2020. Wilcoxon signed-rank was used to assess differences in perceived food waste. A hierarchical binomial logistic regression analysis was conducted to examine whether COVID-19-related lifestyle disruptions and food-related behavior changes increased the likelihood of household food waste. A binomial logistic regression was conducted to explore the contribution of different food groups to the likelihood of increased food waste. Perceived food waste, assessed as the estimated percent of food wasted, decreased significantly during the pandemic (z = -7.47, p < 0.001). Food stockpiling was identified as a predictor of increased overall food waste during the pandemic, and wasting fresh vegetables and frozen foods increased the odds of increased food waste. The results indicate the need to provide education and resources related to food stockpiling and the management of specific food groups during periods of disruption to reduce food waste.

Influence of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Household Food Waste Behavior in Japan

The 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic had various influences on people’s ordinary lives, including their thoughts and behaviors related to food consumption. Food waste has been cited as a serious issue with environmental, social, and economic consequences. In this study, we investigated how the COVID-19 pandemic altered the social consciousness and behavior related to food waste in Japan. We conducted a nationwide online-based survey and collected a cross-sectional dataset from 1959 adult respondents. The results showed that people in regions highly impacted by the pandemic reported a clearer understanding of the situation of their household food waste, more careful food preparation and purchasing, and were more strongly influenced to change their behaviors due to COVID-19. Further analyses revealed that thoughts and behaviors related to food waste significantly differed by sociodemographic characteristics, such as gender, household size, and employment status. This study also implied that the COVID-19 pandemic encouraged some improvements in peoples’ behaviors and thoughts with regard to food, such as paying attention to food waste, making efforts to reduce food waste, and attempting cooking by themselves at home.

Attachment to Material Goods and Subjective Well-Being: Evidence from Life Satisfaction in Rural Areas in Vietnam

In our daily lives, some people tend to use the same material goods more extensively than other people. It would appear that people like this consume fewer material inputs, other things being equal. Our research question is whether they are also happier in terms of life satisfaction. To study this, we first hypothesized that they are happier due to the endowment effect, prosocial or pro-environmental motivations, or income and substitution effects. We show that income and substitution effects are positive for people who use products for longer. Using a reduced form model that incorporates these four effects together, and empirical data originally collected from rural areas in Vietnam, we divide consumption into material consumption and residual consumption and demonstrate that, in general, increased material consumption is not associated with increased well-being; however, for those who take better care of their possessions, this effect is reversed, and material consumption does increase well-being. Our study shows that for people who take better care of their possessions, increased consumption is linked to increased well-being. This finding has a useful policy implication for developing countries to improve their well-being by promoting economic growth alongside responsible consumption.