Learning what works: A mixed methods study of American self-identified food conservers

Household food waste is the top contributor to the total waste problem in developing countries, rendering destructive consequences to the environment, economy and human society. Therefore, reducing and preventing household food waste is crucial for global sustainability and nutrition security. While researcher and policymakers focus on addressing the causal factors of household food waste, there is also much to learn from the significant number of American consumers that are proactive in reducing food waste. This mixed-methods study employed a positive deviance inquiry and a self-determination theory framework to explore the strategies, motivations and barriers of self-identified food conservers through virtual focus groups and online survey responses. The study found that conservers used a variety of proactive waste mitigation and adaptive recovery measures throughout each food management phase. They also reported a range of intrinsic and extrinsic motivations to reduce food waste as well as barriers that were deemed manageable or preventable. The study revealed that conservers experienced strong fulfillment of autonomy and competence in the food conservation space but weak fulfillment of relatedness, corresponding to the range of extrinsic and intrinsic motivation qualities. The findings of this study highlight the opportunity to leverage positive deviance inquiry to identify and disseminate the effective elements, strategies and skills of successful food conservers to reduce household food waste in non-conserver households.

Name thesis:degree_name

M.S.

Level thesis:degree_level

Thesis

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Food Science & Human Nutrition

Grantor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2024

Author dc:creator

• Balto, Gwendoline

Contributors dc:contributor

• Prescott, Melissa P
• Stasiewicz, Matt
• Ellison, Brenna

• Household Food Waste
• Positive Deviance
• Nutrition Security
• Food Resource Management
• Self-determination Theory

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright 2024 Gwendoline Balto

Language dc:language

en, eng

Handle dc:identifier

https://hdl.handle.net/2142/124506

OAI record oai:identifier

https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/oai-pmh?verb=GetRecord&metadataPrefix=etdms&identifier=oai%3Awww.ideals.illinois.edu%3A2142%2F124506