Investigating Household Food Waste Behaviors: A Social Practice Theory-Based Survey Combined with an Educational Intervention

Household food waste constitutes a major sustainability challenge with worldwide implications. In the current study, an online survey (N = 252) was developed to explore how routine food management practices in Greek households influence food waste. The survey was combined with a Social Practice Theory (SPT) framework and an exploratory high-school educational intervention (N = 27) with app-based diary tracking. Under the context of SPT, indices for meanings (MNG), competencies (CPT) and materiality (MAT) were constructed, along with a Food Waste Frequency (FWF) index. Respondents were highly willing to follow educational advice (87.3%) but more moderately open to using a food-tracking app (48.1%). FWF index results (M = 2.01, SD = 0.64) suggested that household food waste was present but not established as a daily routine of the participants. Pearson’s correlations and hierarchical regression of SPT indices and FWF showed that MNG were the main predictor of household FWF (R2 = 0.38), with CPT providing a marginal contribution. Also, a positive correlation (r = 0.619, p < 0.01) was observed between FWF and MNG. The results from the food waste tracking app showed that legumes (14.6%), vegetable peel (14.6%), and meat (12.5%) were the most frequently discarded food categories and that 56.3% of the discarded food was used for animal feed. However, a decrease in the use of the application was observed after the second week. The results highlight the need for prevention policies that focus on practice configurations (i.e., MNG, CPT, and MAT). The current study operationalizes key SPT elements as measurable indices for quantitative analysis on these practice-based aspects.