Food Waste among Young Adults: Behaviors, Barriers, and Opportunities for Intervention

Background

Reducing food waste is critical for protecting planetary and human health. Given that young adulthood is often a formative period for learning food management skills, young adults are a key demographic to study to better understand and intervene on food waste-related behaviors.

Objectives

To describe food waste behaviors and barriers to reducing food waste among young adults.

Methods

A cross-sectional online survey with a convenience sample (n = 2132) of United States young adults was conducted between November 2023 and December 2023. The survey measured self-reported food waste, difficulty reducing food waste, food waste-related behaviors, perceptions, intentions, and sociodemographic characteristics using items adapted from previous studies. Logistic regression was used to examine correlates of food waste.

Results

Roughly 1-quarter (26%) of participants reported high food waste (≥30% of food wasted). Three-quarters of participants (77%) reported concern with food waste, and half (45%) reported being likely to reduce their food waste in the next 30 days. Non-Hispanic Black participants reported higher food waste than non-Hispanic White participants, whereas participants meeting financial needs with a little left over reported less food waste than those reporting comfortable financial situations (all P < 0.05). Barriers to reducing food waste included the inability to save food for later (25%), limited motivation to avoid food waste (18%), and not knowing how to avoid food waste (17%).

Conclusions

Food waste varied by race and perceived financial situation. Barriers to reducing food waste could be addressed with environmental interventions that make it easier to save food for later and educational campaigns on why and how to reduce food waste.