Food waste prevention in Athens, Greece: The effect of family characteristics

Waste Manag Res. 2016 Dec;34(12):1210-1216. doi: 10.1177/0734242X16672318. Epub 2016 Oct 19.

Abstract

Food waste is a stream that becomes increasingly important in terms of its prevention potential. There is a large number of behaviours that can be associated with food waste generation and the efforts towards food waste prevention. A questionnaire study was carried in order to study consumer behaviour related to food provision and wastage in Greece. Proper practices of the respondents that can prevent the generation of food waste were investigated using nine behavioural scales, which were defined on the basis of similar studies in other countries. A structured questionnaire was utilised in order to test those behaviours against the socio-demographic characteristics of respondents. The results of the study indicate that in terms of inferential statistical analysis, among the numerous variables examined, those that enhance food waste prevention are the involvement of the respondent in cooking, the annoyance towards food waste generation and the education level.

Keywords: Greece; Prevention; behaviour; food waste; households.

MeSH terms

  • Consumer Behavior / statistics & numerical data*
  • Cooking
  • Educational Status
  • Family Characteristics*
  • Food Labeling
  • Food Storage
  • Food*
  • Greece
  • Humans
  • Income
  • Pilot Projects
  • Surveys and Questionnaires
  • Waste Management / methods*
  • Waste Management / statistics & numerical data