University Students' Perceptions of Food Waste in the UAE (original) (raw)
Related papers
Typology of university students regarding attitudes towards food waste
British Food Journal, 2019
Purpose-The purpose of this paper is to examine the knowledge, awareness and concern of young consumers towards avoidable and "edible" food waste, and identify groups of individuals based on their attitudes. In addition, this study describes demographic and behavioural characteristics of each group. Design/methodology/approach-The data were collected by a questionnaire conducted among university students in Croatia. Factor and cluster analyses were applied to identify the groups of individuals with similar attitudes towards food waste. Findings-Results show that there are five factors that represent the knowledge, awareness and concern about food waste of young peopleawareness of food waste problem; concern about economic aspects of food waste; health concern; concern about environmental impact of food waste; and awareness and concern about expiration date. Based on those factors, four groups of consumers were identified: consumers concerned about economic effects of food waste; unaware consumers neglecting food waste; well-informed consumers; and fully aware consumers, but not ready to take health risk. Practical implications-The results of the study can be used by marketers and policy makers when planning food waste reduction activities to focus their campaigns towards consumer niches, based on the typology of young consumers. Originality/value-This study provides a typology of university students based on their knowledge, awareness and concern about food waste in Croatia, as an example of a transition and new EU member state, where the issues about food waste are relatively new and underexplored topic.
Attitudes and behaviors shaping household food waste generation: Lessons from Lebanon
Journal of Cleaner Production, 2018
Background: Food consumption and wastage behavior varies across cultures, which warrants investigations in various countries and locations of different income levels. To date, information on the attitudes and behaviors of households in developing countries regarding food waste is scarce. The objective of this study is to assess the household attitudes and behaviors that determine food waste in Lebanon for a better understanding and for tailoring community based interventions. Methods: A questionnaire, composed of 3 sections and 27 questions, was developed to assess the attitudes and behaviors towards food waste in Lebanese households. A convenient sample of 1264 households from the five governorates of Lebanon was interviewed in 2016 and 2017. The variable "eat everything prepared" was used as a proxy for food waste. The effect of various sociodemographic and behavioral factors on household food waste generation across urban and rural areas in Lebanon was estimated by means of a Logistic regression, using STATA. Results: Socio-demographic variables such as employment, education, number of members in the household and income affected food waste volume. Behaviors such as eating out frequently and buying best offers were shown to increase food wastage. Also, beliefs such as feeling guilty decreased food waste generation. Rural households contributed less to food waste generation compared to urban areas. Conclusion: Households contribute significantly to a country's food waste problem through their behavior and beliefs. Our findings showed that various household characteristics and food-related behaviors, attitudes toward recycling and other beliefs affected food waste generation in urban and rural communities of a developing country. Future research is still needed to better understand determinants of food waste at the household level in developing countries.
Exploring household food waste issue in Algeria
AgroFor international journal 2(1): 55-67. http://www.agrofor.rs.ba/data/20170221-08-arous%20at%20all.pdf, 2017
Food losses and waste (FLW) is a phenomenon that has been underestimated, little studied and poorly documented in the Mediterranean countries. Actually, no policies, laws, strategies and action plans have been implemented to reduce FLW in Algeria. This exploratory study aims to evaluate household FW in Algeria. An online survey with 323 Algerian households was conducted in February-April 2015 to assess the knowledge and relative importance of FW; attitudes towards FW; impacts of behaviors regarding food and food management; FW quantity and value; as well as barriers and willingness to behavioral change. Sample is gender-balanced (54% female and 46% male) and rather young (93% are less than 44 years old) while most of respondents have high education level. Results show that household planning and shopping activities are significant forecasters of FW. Attitudes may change according to periods especially in Ramadan (88% of respondents declare that FW increase during this month) and to the category of food (most wasted product groups are fruits and vegetables, cereals and bakery products). Most of the respondents have a good understanding of "use by" food date label while they still confuse the meaning of "best before". It seems that FW is widespread in Algeria as only 1% of respondents declare that they do not waste any food. About 15% declare that their households throw away at least 250 g of still consumable food each week. Even though Algeria is considered as a developing country, an important part of food wastage occurs at consumer level as in high and middle income countries. In order to reduce food waste, efforts should be directed towards providing consumers with skills and tools to deal with their food-related activities and to better consider the impact of food waste on the environment and economy.
F1000Research
Background: Reducing global food waste is an international environmental, health, and sus-tainability priority. Although significant reductions have been achieved across the food chain, progress by UAE households and consumers remain inadequate. This study seeks to understand the association between consumer attitudes, knowledge, and awareness relating to food waste practice of residents living in the UAE. to help inform policy and action for addressing this national priority. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted using a validated semi-structured online questionnaire through stratified sampling (n =1052). The Spearman correlation coefficient was performed to determine the correlations. Two independent regression analysis were used to determine the association between food waste practice with: 1) knowledge and awareness and attitude subdomains, and 2) sociodemographic characteristics. Respondents (n=1072) largely reflect the socio-demographic characteristics and population ...
Sustainability, 2021
The article aims to compare various aspects of food waste in the context of rational food management using the example of two groups: students and employees of Poznań University of Life Sciences (PULS). The survey was conducted on the current level of food wastage in the households of students and employees of PULS, involving 266 respondents, including 187 students (N1) and 79 employees (N2). The conducted research and analysis of the obtained results showed the differences between younger and older people in relation to proper food storage, appropriate use of food surplus, awareness of both consequences of food waste, and the existence of this problem is a consumer behavior. Both groups of surveyed consumers waste food, but students waste it more frequently and in larger quantities than the employees. This situation resulted from different consumer habits and attitudes towards food waste. The research indicated that employees are more effective in reducing food waste in their own h...
Towards Sustainable Food System in Qatar: Household Food Waste and Consumption Behavior
Journal of Food and Nutrition Research, 2018
It has been proofed that food wastage can be recognized at all level of food life cycle i.e. harvesting, manufacturing, distributing however, the largest contribution to food waste is the consumption stage by household. According to Parfitt et al, 2010; WRI, 2013 "household food waste" is define as the total losses that occur at the end of food lifecycle, which is final consumption, we consider the issue of waste of food as a deeply rooted issue of consumption behaviors, (Den 2008; Bowman 2007; Dogs 2002), and many commentators argue that domestic food waste is strongly influenced by consumer behaviors (Wharton, 2014). In the Arab countries, especially in the Gulf countries, high levels of food waste of recorded due to the social customs and traditions that control consumption patterns. Research efforts on the waste of food in the State of Qatar is very few and does not cover all Food waste, production and consumption chain, which start from production through delivery, storage, packaging, selling, and consumption. Through computer assisted telephone interview (CATI) with 1684 respondents This study covered the stage after purchase and consumption, aimed to understand the attitudes and behavior of individuals in Qatar towards food waste , and to identify types of food are often wasted and estimated the amount of waste as well. Survey respondents provided reason of food waste and Results indicate that people have an awareness regard food waste Furthermore; the study found out having more children was associated with reduced food waste perception and high-income households were strongly associated with increase in perception of food wastage as the income increases. Moreover, family give the persons a sense of responsibility towards food waste.
Saudi Journal of Biological Sciences, 2018
Worldwide, food waste is one of the prime issues threatening food security and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) is not an exception. With 427 kg of food wasted per capita per year, the country ranks among the top food wasters. Ironically, the Kingdom has limited arable lands and scarce water resources to support mass-scale agriculture and to feed its increasing population, KSA relies heavily on imports and subsidized food to meet needs. Yet, food is wasted at restaurants, caterers, cafeterias and, especially, by households such that food waste is the single-largest component of the landfills. The review article is based on the grey and scientific literature published in the English and Arabic languages on the issue of food waste in Saudi Arabia. Information sources like Web of knowledge, online resources and the databases available through the King Saud University, Saudi Arabia were accessed and used to collect information on food waste, its social, cultural, economic and environmental impacts and related topics. Since food items and groceries are abundantly available to all living in KSA and they are highly subsidized, the residents take food for granted. According to a recent survey, about 78% of food purchased in KSA is discarded each week in order to make room for new groceries. The factors responsible for food waste include: lack of awareness; and insufficient and inappropriate planning when shopping. Food waste in restaurants, celebrations, social events and occasions are enormous. Waste is common in festivals and special events where the customs is to provide more food than required. There is a need to change society's food culture, particularly among the women and the youth, as they are largest segment of the society and the prime food wasters. The analysis of the factors responsible for food waste, identified in this article suggests a ''Stop Wasting Food" campaign should be launched. It is also recommended to determine and activate the role of extension education to reduce food waste in the KSA through vibrant capacity building programs for youth and women, in particular, and society in general. Ó 2018 Production and hosting by Elsevier B.
The determinants of food waste behavior in young consumers in a developing country
British Food Journal, 2019
Purpose Every year a huge amount of food is wasted from food production till its consumption. The activity of food wastage has become a daily routine practice and a huge portion of this loss is contributed by the consumers all around the world. With a total estimated population of 207.7m, 64 percent of the population of Pakistan is below the age of 30. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the factors that affect young consumer’s food waste behavior in a developing country context. Design/methodology/approach Data were collected in the month of Ramadan and Eid primarily by means of a web-based questionnaire. A two-step approach of structural equation modeling was used as a data analysis technique. Findings The findings of this research confirm the hypothesis that environmental concern and time pressure influence the attitude toward food waste reduction. The results further reveal that although attitude and injunctive norms lead toward higher intentions to reduce food waste, mo...
Determining and Addressing Food Plate Waste in a Group of Students at the University of Jordan
2011
More than half of the food produced is wasted, lost, or discarded due to inefficiency in the human managed food chain; substantial amounts of food waste is avoidable if it had been better managed. To determine the proportions of Food Plate Wasted (FPW) by a group of students who dine at the Students' Restaurant at the University of Jordan (SRUJ). A random sample of 600 students was recruited from different faculties of the University of Jordan (UJ). A reliable and valid questionnaire was developed. The amounts of Food Plate Waste (FPW) were inspected and the proportions of FPW were calculated. Regardless of gender, of the 323.0 kg purchased food items, only 42.11 kg was wasted FPW was exceptionally limited; the proportion of students who wasted the whole amounts of all purchased food items was only 0.37%. Only 1.8% of females and 0.5% of males wasted their purchased meat (p = 0.001), whereas 0.3% of males and none of the females wasted their purchased rice (p = 0.577). The proportion of females who wasted half of their meat was significantly higher than that in males (8.6% and 2.6%, p = 0.001; respectively). About 60% of male and 47% of female students showed that food price was the main factor that influenced their decision to dine at the SRUJ (p = 0.002). The majority of students indicated that lunch was their main meal; about one third of them dine customarily at the SRUJ. Proportions of the amounts of FPW by the participants are substantially low. It seems that simple cost of food and low-income of students are decisive in constraining the amounts of FPW at the UJ.