Global school plate waste estimates highlight the need for building a sustainable food education system
Foley, J. A. et al. Solutions for a cultivated planet. Nature 478, 337–342 (2011).
Google Scholar
Global Food Losses and Food Waste: Extent, Causes and Prevention (FAO, 2011); https://www.fao.org/4/mb060e/mb060e00.pdf
Food Waste Index Report 2021 (UNEP, 2021); https://wedocs.unep.org/bitstream/handle/20.500.11822/35280/FoodWaste.pdf
Moving Forward on Food Loss and Waste Reduction (FAO, 2019).
Mbow, C. et al. in Climate Change and Land: An IPCC Special Report on Climate Change, Desertification, Land Degradation, Sustainable Land Management, Food Security, and Greenhouse Gas Fluxes in Terrestrial Ecosystems (eds Shukla, P. R. et al.) (IPCC, 2019).
Kummu, M. et al. Lost food, wasted resources: global food supply chain losses and their impacts on freshwater, cropland, and fertiliser use. Sci. Total Environ. 438, 477–489 (2012).
Google Scholar
Food Wastage Footprint Full-Cost Accounting: Final Report (FAO, 2014).
Flanagan, K., Robertson, K. & Hanson, C. Reducing food loss and waste: setting a global action agenda. World Resour. Inst. (2019).
Google Scholar
Sanu, M. 7 inspiring government food waste campaigns foodservice can learn from. Winnow (2019).
Law of the People’s Republic of China on Food Waste (The National People’s Congress of the People’s Republic of China, 2021).
Blondin, S. & Attwood, S. Making food waste socially unacceptable: what behavioral science tells us about shifting social norms to reduce household food waste. World Resour. Inst. (2022).
Google Scholar
Wood, W. & Neal, D. T. Healthy through habit: interventions for initiating & maintaining health behavior change. Behav. Sci. Policy 2, 71–83 (2016).
Google Scholar
Reisch, L., Eberle, U. & Lorek, S. Sustainable food consumption: an overview of contemporary issues and policies. Sustain. Sci. Pract. Policy 9, 7–25 (2013).
Kelder, S. H., Perry, C. L., Klepp, K. I. & Lytle, L. L. Longitudinal tracking of adolescent smoking, physical activity, and food choice behaviors. Am. J. Public Health 84, 1121–1126 (1994).
Google Scholar
Birch, L. L. & Davison, K. K. Family environmental factors influencing the developing behavioral controls of food intake and childhood overweight. Pediatr. Clin. North Am. 48, 893–907 (2001).
Google Scholar
Murimi, M. W. et al. Factors Influencing efficacy of nutrition education interventions: a systematic review. J. Nutr. Educ. Behav. 49, 142–165.e1 (2017).
Google Scholar
Rajan, J., Fredeen, A. L., Booth, A. L. & Watson, M. Measuring food waste and creating diversion opportunities at Canada’s Green UniversityTM. J. Hunger Environ. Nutr. 13, 573–586 (2018).
Google Scholar
Wu, Y., Tian, X., Li, X., Yuan, H. & Liu, G. Characteristics, influencing factors, and environmental effects of plate waste at university canteens in Beijing, China. Resour. Conserv. Recycl. 149, 151–159 (2019).
Google Scholar
Li, J., Li, W., Wang, L. & Jin, B. Environmental and cost impacts of food waste in university canteen from a life cycle perspective. Energies 14, 5907 (2021).
Google Scholar
García-Herrero, L., De Menna, F. & Vittuari, M. Food waste at school. The environmental and cost impact of a canteen meal. Waste Manag. 100, 249–258 (2019).
Google Scholar
Visschers, V. H. M., Gundlach, D. & Beretta, C. Smaller servings vs. information provision: results of two interventions to reduce plate waste in two university canteens. Waste Manag. 103, 323–333 (2020).
Google Scholar
Malefors, C., Sundin, N., Tromp, M. & Eriksson, M. Testing interventions to reduce food waste in school catering. Resour. Conserv. Recycl. 177, 105997 (2022).
Google Scholar
Izumi, B., Akamatsu, R., Shanks, C. B. & Fujisaki, K. Exploring factors that minimize school lunch waste in Tokyo elementary schools. J. Nutr. Educ. Behav. 51, S6 (2019).
Google Scholar
Tilman, D., Balzer, C., Hill, J. & Befort, B. L. Global food demand and the sustainable intensification of agriculture. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 108, 20260–20264 (2011).
Google Scholar
Houthakker, H. S. An international comparison of household expenditure patterns, commemorating the centenary of Engel’s law. Econometrica 25, 532–551 (1957).
Google Scholar
Ritchie, H., Roser, M. & Rosado, P. CO2 and Greenhouse Gas Emissions (Our World in Data, 2020).
Arable Land (Hectares) (World Bank, 2021); https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/AG.LND.ARBL.HA?most_recent_value_desc=true
Lagorio, A., Pinto, R. & Golini, R. Food waste reduction in school canteens: evidence from an Italian case. J. Clean. Prod. 199, 77–84 (2018).
Google Scholar
Liz Martins, M., Rodrigues, S. S. P., Cunha, L. M. & Rocha, A. Factors influencing food waste during lunch of fourth-grade school children. Waste Manag. 113, 439–446 (2020).
Google Scholar
Thiagarajah, K. & Getty, V. M. Impact on plate waste of switching from a tray to a trayless delivery system in a university dining hall and employee response to the switch. J. Acad. Nutr. Diet. 113, 141–145 (2013).
Google Scholar
Richardson, R., Prescott, M. P. & Ellison, B. Impact of plate shape and size on individual food waste in a university dining hall. Resour. Conserv. Recycl. 168, 105293 (2021).
Google Scholar
Kim, K. & Morawski, S. Quantifying the impact of going trayless in a university dining hall. J. Hunger Environ. Nutr. 7, 482–486 (2012).
Google Scholar
Pinto, R. S., Pinto, R. M. D. S., Melo, F. F. S., Campos, S. S. & Cordovil, C. M.-D.-S. A simple awareness campaign to promote food waste reduction in a university canteen. Waste Manag. 76, 28–38 (2018).
Google Scholar
Vidal-Mones, B., Diaz-Ruiz, R. & Gil, J. M. From evaluation to action: testing nudging strategies to prevent food waste in school canteens. Waste Manag. 140, 90–99 (2022).
Google Scholar
Antón-Peset, A., Fernandez-Zamudio, M.-A. & Pina, T. Promoting food waste reduction at primary schools. A case study. Sustainability 13, 600 (2021).
Google Scholar
Liz Martins, M., Rodrigues, S. S., Cunha, L. M. & Rocha, A. Strategies to reduce plate waste in primary schools—experimental evaluation. Public Health Nutr. 19, 1517–1525 (2016).
Google Scholar
Ellison, B., Savchenko, O., Nikolaus, C. J. & Duff, B. R. L. Every plate counts: evaluation of a food waste reduction campaign in a university dining hall. Resour. Conserv. Recycl. 144, 276–284 (2019).
Google Scholar
Ziegler, A. M. et al. An ecological perspective of food choice and eating autonomy among adolescents. Front. Psychol. 12, 654139 (2021).
Google Scholar
Derqui, B. & Fernandez, V. The opportunity of tracking food waste in school canteens: guidelines for self-assessment. Waste Manag. 69, 431–444 (2017).
Google Scholar
Torrijos, V., Calvo Dopico, D. & Soto, M. Integration of food waste composting and vegetable gardens in a university campus. J. Clean. Prod. 315, 128175 (2021).
Google Scholar
Prescott, M. P., Grove, A., Bunning, M. & Cunningham-Sabo, L. Characterizing and assessing the quality of state K-12 share table policies as a potential mechanism to reduce food waste and promote food security. J. Nutr. Educ. Behav. 52, 21–30 (2020).
Google Scholar
Rossiter, M., Glanville, T., Taylor, J. & Blum, I. School food practices of prospective teachers. J. Sch. Health 77, 694–700 (2007).
Google Scholar
Lavelle, F. et al. Fun with food—a parent–child community cooking intervention reduces parental fear and increases children’s perceived competence. Appetite 180, 106347 (2023).
Google Scholar
Gibson, S., Metcalfe, J. J., McCaffrey, J., Allison, T. & Prescott, M. P. Nutrition environment at food pantries improves after fresh produce donation program. J. Nutr. Educ. Behav. 54, 432–441 (2022).
Google Scholar
Environmental Policy Bulletin—Volume-Based Waste Fee System (Ministry of Environment, Republic of Korea, 2003).
Kwon, H. Seoul reduces food waste by 250,000 tons in 10 years… 111.28 million 3L bags (in Korean). News1 (6 November 2023).
Motley, J. Mottainai: in Japan, creativity is key to a no-waste ideal. BBC (25 January 2024).
Thyberg, K. L. & Tonjes, D. J. Drivers of food waste and their implications for sustainable policy development. Resour. Conserv. Recycl. 106, 110–123 (2016).
Google Scholar
Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (Japan) Promotion of Shokuiku (Food and Nutrition Education) (MAFF, 2022); https://www.maff.go.jp/e/policies/tech_res/shokuiku.html
Nutrition Education in Primary Schools, Vol. 1: The Reader (FAO, 2005).
Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries (Japan) Policies for the Promotion of Shokuiku (White Paper on Shokuiku) The Fiscal Year 2022 Edition (MAFF, 2022); https://www.maff.go.jp/e/data/publish/attach/pdf/index-216.pdf
Poore, J. & Nemecek, T. Reducing food’s environmental impacts through producers and consumers. Science 360, 987–992 (2018).
Google Scholar
Zhu, J. et al. Cradle-to-grave emissions from food loss and waste represent half of total greenhouse gas emissions from food systems. Nat. Food 4, 247–256 (2023).
Google Scholar
FAOSTAT (FAO, 2020); https://www.fao.org/faostat/en/#data/GPP
2006 IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories (IPCC, 2006); https://www.ipcc-nggip.iges.or.jp/public/2006gl/
What a Waste 2.0: A Global Snapshot of Solid Waste Management to 2050 (World Bank, 2018).
Dietary compositions by Commodity Group (Our World in Data, 2023); https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/dietary-compositions-by-commodity-group
LICs, LMICs, UMICs, and HICs: classifying economies for analytical purposes. World Bank Blogs (2014).
SDG 4 Data Digest 2019: How to Produce and Use the Global and Thematic Education Indicators (UNESCO, 2019); https://uis.unesco.org/en/topic/sustainable-development-goal-4
Bronfenbrenner, U. Toward an experimental ecology of human development. Am. Psychol. 32, 513–531(1977).
Stokols, D. Establishing and maintaining healthy environments: toward a social ecology of health promotion. Am. Psychol. 47, 6–22 (1992).
Google Scholar
Golden, S. D., McLeroy, K. R., Green, L. W., Earp, J. A. L. & Lieberman, L. D. Upending the social ecological model to guide health promotion efforts toward policy and environmental change. Health Educ. Behav. 42, 8S–14S (2015).
Google Scholar
link