Research on food waste

When product attitudes go to waste

Consumers regularly waste products, but also have an aversion to such wastefulness. The resulting feeling of discomfort can lead to lower product attitudes.

van Herpen, E., & de Hooge, I. E. (2019). When product attitudes go to waste: Wasting products with remaining utility decreases consumers' product attitudes. Journal of cleaner production, 210, 410-418. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2018.10.331

Comparing wasted apples and oranges

Multiple methods to measure household food waste have been proposed, but little is known about their validity. In this study, five methods are compared empirically: general survey questions, diaries, photo coding, kitchen caddies, and weekly survey.

van Herpen, E., van der Lans, I. A., Holthuysen, N., Nijenhuis-de Vries, M., & Quested, T. E. (2019). Comparing wasted apples and oranges: An assessment of methods to measure household food waste. Waste management, 88, 71-84. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wasman.2019.03.013

Food waste as the consequence of competing motivations, lack of opportunities, and insufficient abilities

This study explores the motivations, opportunities, and abilities that consumers have for reducing food waste in everyday contexts that involve competing (food-related) goals. 

van Geffen, L., van Herpen, E., Sijtsema, S., & van Trijp, H. (2020). Food waste as the consequence of competing motivations, lack of opportunities, and insufficient abilities. Resources, Conservation & Recycling: X, 5, 100026. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rcrx.2019.100026

A picture says it all?

Is it possible to assess the amount of food wasted by coding photographs of household food waste? This study examines the validity of this measurement method and finds that the method appears promising for application in studies examining household food waste levels.

van Herpen, E., & van der Lans, I. (2019). A picture says it all? The validity of photograph coding to assess household food waste. Food quality and preference, 75, 71-77. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodqual.2019.02.006

Avoiding food waste by Romanian consumers: The importance of planning and shopping routines.

What drives household food waste? This study shows that consumers’ planning and shopping routines are important predictors of food waste.

Stefan, V., van Herpen, E., Tudoran, A. A., & Lähteenmäki, L. (2013). Avoiding food waste by Romanian consumers: The importance of planning and shopping routines. Food Quality and Preference, 28(1), 375-381. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodqual.2012.11.001

Missing food, missing data? A critical review of global food losses and food waste data.

A good understanding of the availability and quality of global data on food losses and waste is a prerequisite for tracking progress on reduction targets, analyzing environmental impacts, and exploring mitigation strategies. This paper examines which data is available and where more data is needed.

Xue, L., Liu, G., Parfitt, J., Liu, X., Van Herpen, E., Stenmarck, Å., ... & Cheng, S. (2017). Missing food, missing data? A critical review of global food losses and food waste data. Environmental science & technology, 51(12), 6618-6633. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.7b00401

Household Food Waste—How to Avoid It?

This book chapter provides an overview of the literature on drivers of in-home food waste and translates them into guidelines for effective intervention development.

van Geffen, L., van Herpen, E., & van Trijp, H. (2020). Household Food Waste—How to Avoid It? An Integrative Review. In Food Waste Management (pp. 27-55). Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-030-20561-4_2