Department of Sociology, University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel.
School of Environmental Sciences, University of Haifa, Israel.
Appetite. 2024 Sep 1;200:107565. doi: 10.1016/j.appet.2024.107565. Epub 2024 Jun 17.
Food waste is a pressing global issue with profound social, environmental, and economic implications, prompting an urgent need for a comprehensive understanding of its sources. In the current study, we explored the role of cultural and personal determinants in food management practices. We operationalized two food practices - prevention of food waste by inventory and meal management and reduction of food waste by leftovers management, and explored how they are shaped by personal and cultural determinants. We asked 1200 respondents, three types of questions about their (1) cultural and personal attributes, such as their ethical and religious values; (2) lifestyle and dietary habits, such as their frequency of eating out, and (3) sociodemographic characteristics. We modeled the association between these three types of questions and the two food management practices utilizing a hierarchical multiple regression model. The results indicate that ascribing significant importance to hospitality is associated with less proficiency in inventory and meal management. Those who place a high priority on hospitality preparedness are proficient in managing leftovers but less proficient in inventory and meal management. In addition, individuals with strong ethical and religious views against food wastage tend to manage their inventory and meals poorly but excel at handling surplus food. Finally, secular Ashkenazi Israelis tend to engage in better practices to prevent and reduce food waste. The results also stress the differences between practices to prevent food waste and those to reduce it, opening a promising avenue for future research.
食物浪费是一个紧迫的全球性问题，具有深远的社会、环境和经济影响，因此迫切需要全面了解其来源。在本研究中，我们探讨了文化和个人决定因素在食物管理实践中的作用。我们将两种食物管理实践——通过库存和膳食管理防止食物浪费，以及通过剩菜管理减少食物浪费——进行了操作，并探讨了它们是如何受到个人和文化决定因素的影响的。我们向 1200 名受访者提出了三类问题，分别涉及他们的（1）文化和个人属性，如道德和宗教价值观；（2）生活方式和饮食习惯，如外出就餐的频率；（3）社会人口特征。我们利用分层多元回归模型，对这三种类型的问题与两种食物管理实践之间的关联进行了建模。结果表明，高度重视殷勤好客与库存和膳食管理的熟练程度较低有关。那些高度重视殷勤好客准备的人擅长管理剩菜，但在库存和膳食管理方面的熟练程度较低。此外，对浪费食物持有强烈道德和宗教观点的人往往在库存和膳食管理方面表现不佳，但在处理剩余食物方面表现出色。最后，世俗的阿什肯纳兹以色列人倾向于更好地防止和减少食物浪费。研究结果还强调了防止食物浪费和减少食物浪费实践之间的差异，为未来的研究开辟了一个有前途的途径。
