A National Strategy to Reduce Food Waste at the Consumer Level

Report Overview

 

Environmental and Economic Impact of Food Waste

30%

An estimated 30 percent (or 67 million tons) of edible food in the United States is wasted at the retail and consumer levels.

1lb

About a 1 pound per day, per person is wasted. Fruits and vegetables are most likely to be wasted, followed by dairy, meat, and grains.

15%

Food waste accounts for 15 percent of the total municipal solid waste which includes commercial, residential, and institutional sectors generated in the United States.

12,000lbs

The food waste in landfills is converted partly to methane, a greenhouse gas. Greenhouse gases are also emitted in the process of growing, processing, distributing, transporting, retailing, and cooking food that is eventually wasted. A typical American’s annual food waste could account for the emission of more than 12,000 pounds of carbon dioxide equivalent, which is approximately the level of emissions from driving a car for 13,500 miles.

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WHO CAN HELP THE CONSUMER WITH THE GOAL OF REDUCING FOOD WASTE


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To understand food waste at the consumer level we need to understand how consumers are influenced by a range of factors both within the food system and beyond. Food marketing, food packaging, the retail setting, food literacy can all drive behavior, as can, the media, policies and social and cultural norms within our peer and family groups.

HOW CAN VARIOUS ACTORS HELP WITH THE GOAL OF REDUCING FOOD WASTE AT THE CONSUMER LEVEL?


  • Coordinate efforts encompassed by the Winning on Reducing Food Waste Initiative, which is a collaborative joint-agency effort of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration
  • Provide resources for collaboration and coordination with a broad group of stakeholders (e.g., state and local governments, corporations, academic institutions, foundations)
  • Develop evaluation and implementation guidelines
  • Coordinate and fund a national behavioral change campaign and provide relevant stakeholders and the public with tools and strategies for reducing food waste
  • Provide research, adaptable tools, and information to state and local entities
  • Coordinate and provide support for both research and a clearinghouse for sharing information and resources
  • Where federal agencies have jurisdiction over institutional procurement, support initiatives aimed at reducing consumer food waste

 

  • Coordinate efforts with respect to food waste among agencies
  • Provide funding to support food waste reduction efforts
  • Adapt and disseminate the national behavioral change campaign
  • Provide the public, businesses, and institutions with resources and easy everyday tips for reducing food waste
  • Encourage and support changes to the built environment and to food marketing that help reduce food waste
  • Establish and evaluate policies that encourage reduction of food waste behaviors, such as pay-as-you-throw disposal fees, and integrate them with other relevant policies
  • Coordinate efforts to provide schools, universities, and other educational institutions with appropriate tools and promote the inclusion of food literacy and associated practical opportunities in curricula
  • Where state governments have jurisdiction over schools or institutional procurement, support initiatives aimed at reducing consumer food waste

 

  • Provide evidence-based information on food safety and other topics to help consumers reduce food waste
  • Use evidence-based guidance to develop and offer promotions that may reduce food waste, including prioritizing acquisition of the optimal amount and variety (frozen, shelf-stable, and perishable) of foods rather than stimulating overacquisition, with the goal of helping consumers improve their decision making in ways that are likely to reduce food waste
  • Develop and offer in-store cues that activate unconscious behaviors that prioritize acquisition of the right amount and variety (frozen, shelf-stable, and perishable) of foods rather than large quantities
  • Work with researchers to evaluate impacts and potential unintended consequences of interventions to reduce consumer food waste

 

  • Inform consumers about the impacts of food waste and provide tips to help them reduce such waste
  • Reach out to consumers with the goal of reducing their physical and psychological distance from food and food production

 

  • Use evidence-based guidance to design, implement, and tailor interventions to reduce consumer food waste—for example, optimize portions and number of options offered; redesign menus and food presentation, such as buffets; stop using trays; encourage taking a sample helping and returning for more if desired; provide containers for leftovers; and provide tips for consumers on how to reduce food waste
  • Work with researchers to evaluate impacts and potential unintended consequences of interventions to reduce consumer food wast
  • Engage with the Winning on Reducing Food Waste Initiative to coordinate efforts and use consistent methods, approaches, and terminology, and support evidence-based best practices for reducing food waste at the consumer level by providing regularly updated written guidance, consultation services, and tools to relevant industries
  • Encourage businesses to evaluate their efforts and provide tools, funds, and connections to researchers for this purpose
  • Develop materials for campaigns aimed at specific sectors to educate the business community about costs and benefits of practices that help reduce food waste at the consumer level
  • Create communities of practice to support sharing of innovations and lessons learned
  • Include practices that reduce food waste at the consumer level as criteria in environmental management systems or other standards for food businesses
  • Develop or support the development of guidelines, toolkits, and best practices to reduce food waste at the consumer level
  • Support and conduct relevant research
  • Using guidelines and information, continue to support innovators, industries, and institutions that provide food through channels such as cafeterias in schools, universities, and workplaces
  • Engage with the Winning on Reducing Food Waste Initiative and others to develop consistent measures, methods, interventions, and terminology

 

  • Work with their membership to promote the use of their platforms to advance consistent food literacy information, including evidence-based guidance to help people optimize the consumption of food and minimize its discarding, and help shift social norms by providing information about the effects of wasting food
  • Assist in disseminating guidance about food waste prevention from the Winning on Reducing Food Waste Initiative and advance consistent food literacy information, including evidence-based guidance to help people optimize the consumption of food and minimize its discarding
  • Help shift social norms by providing information about the effects of wasting food

  • Implement interventions that can help students and staff reduce food waste
  • Improve existing technologies and create new ones (e.g., features of the built environment, appliances, apps) to help consumers with reducing food waste
  • Invest in research to advance measurement of food waste at the consumer level and to study the drivers of food waste behavior and the mechanisms for changing that behavior
  • Support food waste reduction programs and resources
  • Require evaluations and provide resources for conducting them in funded projects and ensure that funded interventions are building on best practices and evidence rather than reinventing approaches
  • Produce research to support future innovations and build the knowledge base on drivers of consumer behavior and best practices for interventions to change that behavior

What are interventions that are effective in reducing food waste?


Interventions are categorized into seven types that address individuals’ motivation, opportunity, or ability to reduce food waste. Some interventions may affect more than one of these elements. For example, financial incentives such as paying for food waste by volume rather than a fixed amount can motivate individuals while also providing the opportunity to act.

Click on an intervention below to learn more about what the science tells us.

  • Appeals
  • Engagement
  • Social Comparisons
  • Feedback
  • Financial
  • Nudges
  • Information


The committee urges caution in extrapolating the information in this table to generalized statements about the efficacy and effectiveness of these interventions, which will depend on many other factors.

WHAT ELSE IS NEEDED TO DESIGN AN EFFECTIVE INTERVENTION?


The following need to be considered as one designs interventions:

    • Context: Understand individuals’ behaviors and what influences them
    • Underlying Mechanisms: Understand the cognitive mechanisms underlying individuals’ behaviors
    • Multifaceted: Design interventions that consider the need to improve the motivations, opportunities, and abilities of the individuals in a community
    • Evaluation and Implementation: Integrate plans for evaluation and implementation of the intervention

Implementation Outcomes


The effectiveness of promising interventions depends on factors related to their implementation such as feasibility, capacity, fidelity to the intervention design, cost, and appropriateness to the settings in which an intervention will be used. Development of interventions should be integrated with research on implementation so that the interventions have meaningful effects.

Table 6-1: Implementation Outcomes.
Table 6-1: Implementation Outcomes

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES