Influencing across multiple levels: The positive effect of a school-based intervention on food waste and household behaviours

Changing consumer food waste-related behaviours is critical to meeting global targets of halving food loss and waste. This paper presents a food waste reduction intervention trialled in five Australian schools and explores its influence on food provisioning practices, changed behaviours and food waste. Consisting of a mix of educational, skills-based, and whole-of-school-events, the intervention sought to reduce food waste by encouraging students to be more involved at home in choosing and/or preparing food to take to school. Students reported greater involvement in the target behaviours and there was a reduction in avoidable food waste in participating schools. Utilising a multi-level perspective, this study demonstrates how food-related practices and behaviours emerge from the interactions of macro and meso-level factors and highlights the value of this perspective when designing food waste reduction interventions.

Automated summary

This study presents a food waste reduction intervention, implemented in five Australian schools, and examines its impact. By encouraging students to be more involved in choosing and preparing food for school, the intervention resulted in changed behaviors and a reduction in avoidable food waste.