{"id":{"repo_id":"uiuc","oai_identifier":"oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/105689"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/uiuc/oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/105689","repository":{"repo_id":"uiuc","name":"University of Illinois - Urbana-Champaign","base_url":"https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/oai-pmh"},"display":{"title":"Influencers of surplus food donation at institutions of higher education","abstract":"In recent years significant policy attention has been given to reducing food waste, including the practice of donating surplus food. The most recent of these policies was the 2018 Farm Bill which dedicated new funding and public positions to research and reduce the quantity of food waste. Policies come in response to a climate of both waste and hunger in the U.S. In this study, we examine the factors that influence surplus food donation at institutions of higher education (IHE). IHE hold an interesting position in the economy, as they receive both direct and indirect benefits from public services or “doing good”. Like any food service provider (e.g. a restaurant), donating may reduce direct costs through reducing waste disposal, or generate direct funding through tax breaks or grants. But, distinct from other food service providers, IHE may also receive indirect benefits as food donation attracts students, faculty, and staff which in-turn affect institutional goals including revenue generation. These indirect benefits may make them more likely to donate surplus food. Research on food waste in IHE has primarily focused on plate waste. While this is a significant source of waste, it does not address pre-consumer waste or its management. Thus, this study contributes to the literature by considering pre-consumer waste, and in particular, how it may be diverted via food donation at IHE. Institutions from the National Association of College and University Food Services (NACUFS) were surveyed on a series of characteristics including goals, liability and sustainability and waste management practices, including food donation. Results of the study show that not paying to dispose of waste, liability concern and being located in a town as compared to a city are correlated with a decrease in an institution’s likelihood to donate. Being aware of a nonprofit organization that accepts excess food donations increases the likelihood of donation. The findings support the need for attention to liability concerns as purported by others in the literature.","abstract_html":"In recent years significant policy attention has been given to reducing food waste, including the practice of donating surplus food. The most recent of these policies was the 2018 Farm Bill which dedicated new funding and public positions to research and reduce the quantity of food waste. Policies come in response to a climate of both waste and hunger in the U.S. In this study, we examine the factors that influence surplus food donation at institutions of higher education (IHE). IHE hold an interesting position in the economy, as they receive both direct and indirect benefits from public services or “doing good”. Like any food service provider (e.g. a restaurant), donating may reduce direct costs through reducing waste disposal, or generate direct funding through tax breaks or grants. But, distinct from other food service providers, IHE may also receive indirect benefits as food donation attracts students, faculty, and staff which in-turn affect institutional goals including revenue generation. These indirect benefits may make them more likely to donate surplus food. Research on food waste in IHE has primarily focused on plate waste. While this is a significant source of waste, it does not address pre-consumer waste or its management. Thus, this study contributes to the literature by considering pre-consumer waste, and in particular, how it may be diverted via food donation at IHE. Institutions from the National Association of College and University Food Services (NACUFS) were surveyed on a series of characteristics including goals, liability and sustainability and waste management practices, including food donation. Results of the study show that not paying to dispose of waste, liability concern and being located in a town as compared to a city are correlated with a decrease in an institution’s likelihood to donate. Being aware of a nonprofit organization that accepts excess food donations increases the likelihood of donation. The findings support the need for attention to liability concerns as purported by others in the literature.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Forrest, Samantha Sea"],"institution":"University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign","degree_name":"M.S.","degree_level":"Thesis","degree_discipline":"Agricultural & Applied Econ","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Ellison, Brenna"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2019,"date_issued":"2019-11-26T20:35:07Z","date_published":"2019-11-26T20:35:07Z","updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:24:44Z","subjects":["Food Recovery, Donation"],"languages":["eng"],"rights":["Copyright 2019 Samantha Forrest"],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"http://hdl.handle.net/2142/105689","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Ellison, Brenna"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Forrest, Samantha Sea"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date","label":"Dc Date","values":["2019-11-26T20:35:07Z","2019-07-15","2019-08"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["text"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Agricultural & Applied Econ"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["M.S."]},{"key":"thesis:institution_name","label":"Thesis Institution Name","values":["University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Food Recovery, Donation"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language","label":"Dc Language","values":["eng"]},{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["Copyright 2019 Samantha Forrest"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["http://hdl.handle.net/2142/105689"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description","label":"Description","values":["In recent years significant policy attention has been given to reducing food waste, including the practice of donating surplus food. The most recent of these policies was the 2018 Farm Bill which dedicated new funding and public positions to research and reduce the quantity of food waste. Policies come in response to a climate of both waste and hunger in the U.S. In this study, we examine the factors that influence surplus food donation at institutions of higher education (IHE). IHE hold an interesting position in the economy, as they receive both direct and indirect benefits from public services or “doing good”. Like any food service provider (e.g. a restaurant), donating may reduce direct costs through reducing waste disposal, or generate direct funding through tax breaks or grants. But, distinct from other food service providers, IHE may also receive indirect benefits as food donation attracts students, faculty, and staff which in-turn affect institutional goals including revenue generation. These indirect benefits may make them more likely to donate surplus food. Research on food waste in IHE has primarily focused on plate waste. While this is a significant source of waste, it does not address pre-consumer waste or its management. Thus, this study contributes to the literature by considering pre-consumer waste, and in particular, how it may be diverted via food donation at IHE. Institutions from the National Association of College and University Food Services (NACUFS) were surveyed on a series of characteristics including goals, liability and sustainability and waste management practices, including food donation. Results of the study show that not paying to dispose of waste, liability concern and being located in a town as compared to a city are correlated with a decrease in an institution’s likelihood to donate. Being aware of a nonprofit organization that accepts excess food donations increases the likelihood of donation. The findings support the need for attention to liability concerns as purported by others in the literature.","Submission original under an indefinite embargo labeled 'Open Access'. The submission was exported from vireo on 2019-11-26 without embargo terms","The student, Samantha Forrest, accepted the attached license on 2019-07-12 at 11:52.","The student, Samantha Forrest, submitted this Thesis for approval on 2019-07-12 at 12:03.","This Thesis was approved for publication on 2019-07-15 at 16:56.","DSpace SAF Submission Ingestion Package generated from Vireo submission #14303 on 2019-11-26 at 12:53:34","Made available in DSpace on 2019-11-26T20:35:07Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 FORREST-THESIS-2019.pdf: 1086099 bytes, checksum: 095ed0021f82dd0236da2b213e89da2b (MD5) LICENSE.txt: 4213 bytes, checksum: 5740121fbcd3a8287951a64866a24255 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2019-07-15"]},{"key":"dc:format","label":"Dc Format","values":["application/pdf"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Influencers of surplus food donation at institutions of higher education"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Ellison, Brenna"],"dc:creator":["Forrest, Samantha Sea"],"dc:date":["2019-11-26T20:35:07Z","2019-07-15","2019-08"],"dc:description":["In recent years significant policy attention has been given to reducing food waste, including the practice of donating surplus food. The most recent of these policies was the 2018 Farm Bill which dedicated new funding and public positions to research and reduce the quantity of food waste. Policies come in response to a climate of both waste and hunger in the U.S. In this study, we examine the factors that influence surplus food donation at institutions of higher education (IHE). IHE hold an interesting position in the economy, as they receive both direct and indirect benefits from public services or “doing good”. Like any food service provider (e.g. a restaurant), donating may reduce direct costs through reducing waste disposal, or generate direct funding through tax breaks or grants. But, distinct from other food service providers, IHE may also receive indirect benefits as food donation attracts students, faculty, and staff which in-turn affect institutional goals including revenue generation. These indirect benefits may make them more likely to donate surplus food. Research on food waste in IHE has primarily focused on plate waste. While this is a significant source of waste, it does not address pre-consumer waste or its management. Thus, this study contributes to the literature by considering pre-consumer waste, and in particular, how it may be diverted via food donation at IHE. Institutions from the National Association of College and University Food Services (NACUFS) were surveyed on a series of characteristics including goals, liability and sustainability and waste management practices, including food donation. Results of the study show that not paying to dispose of waste, liability concern and being located in a town as compared to a city are correlated with a decrease in an institution’s likelihood to donate. Being aware of a nonprofit organization that accepts excess food donations increases the likelihood of donation. The findings support the need for attention to liability concerns as purported by others in the literature.","Submission original under an indefinite embargo labeled 'Open Access'. The submission was exported from vireo on 2019-11-26 without embargo terms","The student, Samantha Forrest, accepted the attached license on 2019-07-12 at 11:52.","The student, Samantha Forrest, submitted this Thesis for approval on 2019-07-12 at 12:03.","This Thesis was approved for publication on 2019-07-15 at 16:56.","DSpace SAF Submission Ingestion Package generated from Vireo submission #14303 on 2019-11-26 at 12:53:34","Made available in DSpace on 2019-11-26T20:35:07Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 FORREST-THESIS-2019.pdf: 1086099 bytes, checksum: 095ed0021f82dd0236da2b213e89da2b (MD5) LICENSE.txt: 4213 bytes, checksum: 5740121fbcd3a8287951a64866a24255 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2019-07-15"],"dc:format":["application/pdf"],"dc:identifier":["http://hdl.handle.net/2142/105689"],"dc:language":["eng"],"dc:rights":["Copyright 2019 Samantha Forrest"],"dc:subject":["Food Recovery, Donation"],"dc:title":["Influencers of surplus food donation at institutions of higher education"],"dc:type":["text"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Agricultural & Applied Econ"],"thesis:degree_level":["Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["M.S."],"thesis:institution_name":["University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:24:44Z"}