Changes in Selected Food Quality Components after Exceeding the Date of Minimum Durability—Contribution to Food Waste Reduction

Food waste in polish households - Characteristics and sociodemographic determinants on the phenomenon. Nationwide research

In Poland, to our best knowledge, none of the scientific publications produced to date have addressed the scale of wasted food in households and the impact of sociodemographic and economic factors on this. This study fills this research gap. The study was carried out in 2019 on a nationwide random-quota sample of 500 households, which are representative of all households. The survey was carried out in the respondents' homes for seven consecutive days. It consisted of an interview conducted by an interviewer (Computer-Assisted Personal Interviews method) and a paper diary completed by the respondents themselves. The aim of the study was to present the volume of wasted food, taking five groups into account,and to examine the impact of the sociodemographic and economic characteristics of the households and the person responsible for preparing meals on food waste. The results show that one person, on average, wasted 62.6 kg of edible food per year (98.2 kg of edible and inedible parts combined). According to the results, the most discarded food products include fruit and vegetables, bread, dairy products, drinks and juices, and cold cuts. Statistical analysis showed that the level of food waste in Polish households is conditioned by characteristics such as household size (persons), the presence and number of children, monthly income, as well as the characteristics of the person responsible for preparing meals, such as age and employment status.

A systematic literature review of food banks’ supply chain operations with a focus on optimization models

Purpose

Food banks play an increasingly important role in society by mitigating hunger and helping needy people; however, research aimed at improving food bank operations is limited.

Design/methodology/approach

This systematic review used Web of Science and Scopus as search engines, which are extensive databases in Operations Research and Management Science. Ninety-five articles regarding food bank operations were deeply analyzed to contribute to this literature review.

Findings

Through a systematic literature review, this paper identifies the challenges faced by food banks from an operations management perspective and positions the scientific contributions proposed to address these challenges.

Originality/value

This study makes three main contributions to the current literature. First, this study provides new researchers with an overview of the key features of food bank operations. Second, this study identifies and classifies the proposed optimization models to support food bank managers with decision-making. Finally, this study discusses the challenges of food bank operations and proposes promising future research avenues.

The Impact of the Nutritional Knowledge of Polish Students Living Outside the Family Home on Consumer Behavior and Food Waste

Food waste remains a major problem for the world and food security. Despite the fact that consumers are significant producers of food waste, little research attention has been paid to young people who are in college and living away from the family home. The present study aimed to assess food waste among college students living away from the family home, taking into account the nutritional knowledge acquired during college. In addition, the goal was to compare how nutritional knowledge affects food waste and consumer behavior in the study group. Descriptive statistics were performed on behaviors with food management at home, as well as shopping planning and self-shopping at the store, for the total respondents, students with nutritional knowledge and students without such knowledge. A chi-square test was performed to show whether the field of study influences the frequency of food throwing away and the appropriate management of excess food. Spearman's rank correlations were calculated for the frequency of food discarding, the frequency and amount of shopping and the field of study. The results indicate that the field of study determined food discarding and appropriate food management (p < 0.05), while it was found that fermented dairy beverages, fruits and vegetables and bread were the most frequently discarded foods in both study groups (p < 0.05). Students with nutritional knowledge were less likely to throw away food compared to students without nutritional knowledge and were better at managing excess food.

Dietary Catering: The Perfect Solution for Rational Food Management in Households

The problem of food waste is a global phenomenon. Food waste occurs at all stages of the food chain. Households, especially in developed countries, produce the most food waste. In order to effectively prevent consumers from throwing food away, it is important to understand the factors that determine these behaviors in the household. The aim of this study was to define the goal of using dietary catering in Polish society as a form of consumption of wholesome meals with a specific calorific value and distribution of macronutrients in the aspect of reducing losses related to food waste. The research was carried out online in the years 2020–2022 among the clients of a catering company. The survey respondents were residents of the Małopolskie Voivodeship in Poland. The research tool was an original anonymous questionnaire in the form of a shortened nutritional interview. On the basis of the obtained results, it can be concluded that factors such as age and gender influence consumer behavior. The reasons for the decision to choose dietary catering were mainly indicated as wasting and throwing away food, as well as inadequate management of food supplies and preparing too large portions of meals.