“…we buy food for a longer period, and then sometimes I have to leave unexpectedly because of my job…” One informant said during the discussion about food waste with young people (18-26). Another mentioned, “…I buy large packages of potatoes because the price per kilo is lower compared to small packages, but because I live alone, I don’t use them as fast as I should…”.
Many general solutions and advices to avoid food waste might not work for young people. But why? Lifestyle and hectic time schedules come from combining studies, work, and social life that is so needed for young people. The food bought for one week gets wasted as one often has to go to work unplanned or choose a social life in downtown or friends’ party instead of taking care of leftovers in the fridge. Moreover, when buying products in the shop one cannot find good size packaging of food as most packaged food is made for a family but not single-person households.
These and other questions were addressed in the international Baltic-Nordic project “Let’s not Waste Food!” funded by the Nordic Ministers Office in Lithuania. During the project researchers from Kaunas Technology University (LT), Anthropos (LT), Luke (FI), and Copenhagen Business School (DK) were researching food waste issues among young people. This led to the creation of guidelines with solutions for various sectors (policymakers, retail, NGOs, academia as well as individual consumers) from the young people’s perspective.
Here you can find the guidlines created by project partners:
Let's Not Waste Food. Youth Outlook on Hosehold Food Waste Reduction
More about the research:
Link to the YouTube video: click here