Socioeconomic divides and food waste: Exploring knowledge gaps and awareness levels in food waste reduction among college students, in Tamil Nadu.

Background: Food waste is a worldwide issue that negatively impacts society, economy, and the environment. It wastes resources and emits methane while millions of people worldwide go hungry. The aim was to evaluate food waste knowledge and attitudes among university students in Tamilnadu state.

Materials and methods: A cross-sectional study involving 500 college students was conducted, and the interviews were conducted using a semi-structured questionnaire. Using regression, food waste knowledge effect on Food Waste attitudes were investigated.

Results: According to the findings nearly 44% of students had higher knowledge while 25.5% had a low knowledge, 48.5% had a positive attitude and 22% had a neutral attitude about food waste management. There was a significant positive relationship between attitude vs knowledge (AOR: 9.691, 95% CI: 5.949-15.785, P < 0.05). There has been a notable relationship discovered between attitude vs age (AOR: 2.729, 95%, CI: 1.362-5.469, P < 0.05). There was a significant relationship between knowledge versus gender (AOR: 1.584, 95% CI: 1.026-2.448, P < 0.05).

Conclusion: More precisely, persons who are younger, currently pursuing their undergraduate studies, and come from households with higher incomes generally exhibit a higher level of awareness and willingness toward decreasing food waste. Conversely, persons who are elder, have completed higher education, and are employed with a fixed salary may be less likely to embrace such activities. It is suggested to establish a sustained and methodical education about food waste as part of the educational program and employ social media to get the message forward to increase awareness as a fundamental transformation.