Let's not waste food!

Project: Let's not waste food

Jesper Clement has been part of a project with a specific focus on food waste among young consumers. The project was financed by the Nordic Council of Ministries office in Lithuania.

Reason for the project
Young consumers are often described as more focused and concerned about global environmental challenges. However, their practices are not as strong as their ideas, which is described as the attitude-behavior gap, and this is seen in significant amounts of food waste. The reason for this should not be placed solely on the young people’s behavior, because it is a blend of social and cultural attitudes to what is edible and what is not inedible, and not least how we get access to our food.

In order to address the overall question of why young people waste food, the Nordic Council of Ministers Office in Lithuania launched the project "Let's not Waste Food." The goal was to understand young’s people approach to food and to food waste and find ways to reduce the food waste in their home region. The project focused on young consumers in Finland, Lithuania, and Denmark in the period from 2021-2022.

Research and outcome
Based on a literature review and nine focus group interviews, potential interventions were outlined and practical guidelines for reducing food waste were disseminated to specific stakeholders through social media and conferences. The guidelines were the summarized results of the analysis and can be seen as a help from young people to young people on how to reduce food waste. The guidelines can be found here: https://pub.norden.org/nord2022-020/#

The project partners included Kaunas University of Technology Food Institute, Natural Resources Institute Finland (LUKE), Anthropos, and Copenhagen Business School.