Food waste as a sustainability challenge: educational strategies for aligning attitudes and behaviors

Purpose Food waste in the hospitality and food service sector poses a major challenge to circularity and climate-related sustainability goals. Educating future professionals in waste reduction is therefore critical. This study aims to investigate the relationship between negative attitudes toward food waste, sustainability beliefs and pro-environmental behavior (PEB) among hospitality students, assessing the impact of a sustainability course combining traditional, collaborative and experiential learning methods. Design/methodology/approach Data were collected from 186 undergraduate and postgraduate students at a leading hospitality business school in Cambodia. The Chi-squared Automatic Interaction Detector (CHAID) algorithm was used to segment students based on their attitudes toward food waste. Findings The analysis identified three student segments with distinct food waste attitudes. However, differences in PEB across segments were not significant, suggesting a persistent attitude–behavior gap. This points to limitations in current teaching approaches, which may raise awareness but fall short of driving behavioral change. Practical implications The findings support redesigning sustainability education in hospitality through participatory and non-structured training methods. Tailoring approaches to different student segments can enhance learning outcomes and foster sustainable practices more effectively, helping close the attitude–behavior gap in food waste management. Originality/value This study advances understanding of the persistent gap between sustainability attitudes and behaviors in hospitality education, particularly regarding food waste. It contributes to the literature by applying a behavioral segmentation approach (CHAID) to examine how different student mindsets respond to varied educational interventions. Unlike prior research that emphasizes attitude formation, this study questions the assumption that awareness alone leads to action. By highlighting the limited impact of traditional methods and the potential of experiential and values-based learning, this study offers a novel framework for designing more effective, behaviorally informed sustainability education in hospitality and related service fields.