The majority of U.S. food waste is generated by households. And, while many solutions have been proposed, this study analyzed responses from a nationally representative sample of U.S. consumers that were asked not only what food waste reduction solutions they would support but also which ones they thought would be effective. The result of their study published in the Journal of Cleaner Production showed that of 9 popular solutions, making food donations easier and standardizing date labeling terms received the most support; however, participant rankings of effectiveness were lower than their support rankings. That means that while consumers think these are good ideas, these solutions may not result in a change in consumer food waste behaviors. Portion size reduction, however, was a supported solution that was deemed to be equally effective. Importantly, there were significant differences in viewpoints between genders and among age groups, education levels, and regions of the U.S. where the participants lived. Therefore, multiple solutions are likely needed to change U.S. households from food wasters to food conservers.

Citation: Fan, L., Ellison, B., & Wilson, N. L. (2022). What Food waste solutions do people support?. Journal of Cleaner Production, 330, 129907.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2021.129907.