‘It has a life’: Youth revaluing food ‘waste’ at an Australian university

• Examines the everyday value surplus food initiatives provide to young people. • Shows how framing food support as a sustainability initiative might reduce stigma and guilt. • Surplus food initiatives might create spaces for shared values, community-building and knowledge exchange. • Calls for a holistic approach to assess surplus food initiatives, emphasising impacts beyond common ‘food aid’ frameworks. Scholars have increasingly paid attention to addressing food insecurity and environmental concerns through redistributing surplus food. Some scholars argue that surplus food initiatives may inadvertently reinforce existing structures that generate food waste and, to some extent, reproduce social inequalities and the power of corporate entities. However, there have been relatively few studies of whether and how surplus food initiatives provide value in people’s lives. Drawing on ethnographic research conducted with volunteers participating in Food Centre, an Australian university-based food initiative redistributing ‘rescued’ groceries, this study highlights the value of surplus food initiatives and how young people interpret them. While young people were sceptical about these initiatives for their potential to reproduce existing inequalities, they also suggested that such initiatives offered spaces for learning and socialising. Firstly, the surplus food initiative provided a space for students to ease some of the emotions they felt while accessing food relief. Participants also viewed the Food Centre as a platform for disseminating practical knowledge on recycling and reshaping societal perceptions of waste, aligning with their ethical commitments. In addition, the food rescue initiative provided a social space for young people to build community. Thus, surplus food redistribution schemes may not unsettle dominant food systems, but they might provide meaning to marginalised young people.