Ludovica Principato

Reducing food waste: an investigation on the behaviour of Italian youths

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to assess the knowledge of youths concerning food waste as well as to identify factors that influence changes in behaviour concerning food wasted and planning shopping for preventing it. Design/methodology/approach – The data used were collected from a sample of 233 students at Roma-Tre University in Italy. Probit models were specified to identify factors affecting food waste reduction in both pre-shopping and consumption phases. Findings – Results show that the more aware youths are concerning food waste, the more likely they are to reduce leftovers. In contrast, the concern about food freshness increases waste. A greater awareness of the consequences of food wasted increases the likelihood that youths will make a shopping list. Research limitations/implications – The main limitation of the study can be found in the non-probabilistic sampling design used for the collection of data. Practical implications – This study provides information for both social marketers an...

Working toward Healthy and Sustainable Diets: The “Double Pyramid Model” Developed by the Barilla Center for Food and Nutrition to Raise Awareness about the Environmental and Nutritional Impact of Foods

The Barilla Center for Food and Nutrition has produced an updated version of the traditional food pyramid based on the Mediterranean diet in order to assess the simultaneous impact that food has on human health and the environment. The Double Pyramid Model demonstrates how the foods recommended to be consumed most frequently are also those exerting less environmental impact, whereas the foods that should be consumed less frequently are those characterized by a higher environmental impact. The environmental impacts resulting from three different menus were compared. All menus were equally balanced and comparable in terms of nutrition, but they differed in relation to the presence of absence of animal flesh and animal products. The first dietary pattern (omnivorous) included both animal flesh and products; the second (lacto-ovo-vegetarian) included animal products (eggs and dairy) but no flesh; and the third (vegan) was solely plant-based. The results obtained suggest that a diet based on the principles of the Mediterranean diet, as suggested by the Double Pyramid, generates a lower environmental impact compared to diets that are heavily based on daily meat consumption.

Food Waste Initiatives at Consumption Level: A Categorization

Several initiatives have been put forward worldwide to tackle food waste at consumer level. Yet, up until now, a comprehensive analysis and a categorization of the most relevant ones have not been proposed. In this chapter we will seek to fill this literature gap, providing a cluster analysis of the main food waste initiatives. The purposes of this analysis have been: (i) to identify the main initiatives implemented at international level against food waste at consumption level; (ii) to create homogenous groups of similar initiatives through a cluster analysis; (iii) to highlight the differences and similarities of the initiatives across the different countries. Moreover, a brief excursus on how some big food corporations are dealing with food waste and how food sharing models can be important in reducing the phenomenon has been presented.

Factors and Behaviours Affecting Food Waste at Consumption Level: The Household Food Waste Journey Model

In this chapter a comprehensive literature review over a forty-year time span (1977–2017) will shed light on the multiple, complex facets of food waste at consumption level. Drawing from behavioural and marketing theories, a new theoretical framework is proposed with the aim of better explaining food waste behaviour at household level. Along with this, a conceptual framework will define the responsible actors and the correct behaviours that significantly tackle food waste during the away from home phase.

Food Policies to Tackle Food Waste: A Classification

Food waste definitely represents a threat for the sustainability of our food systems. Recently governments are starting to be aware of it and are implementing promising food policies. Indeed, in this chapter we will seek to highlight the most relevant international policies put forward to curb the phenomenon and to classify them, according to the most effective food policy measures.

The Complexity of Food Waste at Consumption Level: Definitions, Data, Causes and Impacts

Food losses and waste represent a severe issue that is compromising our Planet’s sustainability. Every year over one-third of global food production gets lost or wasted along the food supply chain (FSC) causing several economic, environmental and social impacts. Due to the importance and magnitude of the phenomenon, the reduction of food losses and waste has been included within the Sustainable Development Goals proposed by the UN for the Agenda 2030. This introductory chapter aims at shedding light on the state of the art of food waste phenomenon, in order to highlight the literature knowledge and trends in the field and provide a starting point for future research. A comprehensive literature review over a forty-year time span (1977–2017) will shed light on the main and most updated data, definitions adopted, main causes along the FSC, and different impacts originated, with a special focus on the consumption phase.

From the BCFN’s Double Pyramid to Virtual Water in the Production of Pasta Barilla

We realize that water is a resource only when it becomes scarce. Until now, the issue seemed to interest only the least fortunate countries in the world, but this could all change: firstly because “high-quality” water—non-polluted freshwater—represents only a small part of the planet’s reserves and secondly because of the increasing demand for water due to both the growing world population and more widespread wealth, which spurs more people in more countries to use (and waste) more water. Water use should be considered in both “real” terms (calculating the amount of water used for bathing, cooking, cleaning, etc.) and “virtual” terms (i.e., water footprint), estimating the total amount of water used in the entire life cycle of any product of service.

Is Healthy Eating Healthy for the Environment? Barilla Center for Food and Nutrition Double Food Pyramid

Barilla Center for Food and Nutrition decided to repropose an updated food pyramid, involving global warming and impacts of food on the environment. It has been made a reclassification of foods that together with their positive impacts on health also included their environmental impacts. These values were overlapped in descending order to obtain an upside-down pyramid that reproposes the same succession of foods. The new “Double Pyramid” shows that foods with higher recommended consumption levels are also those with lower environmental impact, and foods with lower recommended consumption levels are those with higher environmental impact.