Anne Billings
Pronouns: she/her/hers
Research Mentor(s): Raymond De Young
Co-Presenter: Sharp, Lillian
Research Mentor School/College/Department: Behavior, Education, and Communication / SNRE
Presentation Date: April 20
Presentation Type: Poster
Session: Session 5 – 3:40pm – 4:30 pm
Room: League Ballroom
Authors: Anne Billings, Lillian Sharp, Raymond De Young
Presenter: 65
Abstract
Food waste accounts for ? of the food produced in the United States. The impacts of this food waste are both financial and environmental; the household economic consequences equal approximately $1600 in wasted food per family per year, and the environmental consequences equate to 8% of world greenhouse gas emissions. Sources of food waste can be broken down into 2 main categories: (1) between the farm and retail and (2) households. This research focuses on the impact of households and their behavior surrounding food preparation, planning, saving, and disposal – all contributors to household food waste. We hypothesize that food waste prevention suggestions can reduce household food waste and alter individuals’ behavior about food waste. We worked to compile food waste prevention tips for both a 3 and 12 month log-formatted diary to be used in 3 distinct co-op living communities in the Ann Arbor area. The tips work to combat five distinct household food waste causes, as defined by FoodPrint.org: (1) Food spoilage, (2) Over-preparing, (3) Date Label Confusion, (4) Overbuying, and (5) Poor Planning. To create the 3 month food diary (which includes 12 weeks of tips with 1 tip per week), 8 different website resources, such as environmental regulation sites and personal blogs, were used to gather food waste tips. It is intended that printed food diaries, and a possible online formatted diary, will be distributed to consenting households in the three participating housing cooperatives. We expect that these food waste diaries will change household behaviors and decrease the food waste produced by participants. The implications of these results would show that food waste reduction on the household and neighborhood level is possible and could be used to further reduce food waste on the neighborhood level, thus reducing the amount of global greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to climate change.
Environmental Studies, Interdisciplinary
