Food Waste in Everyday Life: Capability, Opportunity, and Motivation Amongst Vocational Education Students

People in the late adolescent and young adult age range contribute disproportionately to household food waste. However, research on this age group often focuses on university students or treats young adults as a homogeneous group: students in vocational education receive less research attention. Using an exploratory approach this study aims to understand the lived experiences, everyday practices and perspectives of vocational students regarding food waste. It examines how these students experience, explain, and manage food waste in their everyday lives, and how these practices are shaped by capability, opportunity, and motivation. Using the COM-B framework as an analytical lens, we analyzed interviews with 26 students and a survey amongst 188 students. We find that students frequently waste small portions of food across multiple everyday contexts. Their food practices are strongly shaped both by their dependence on the parental household and to a lesser extent by exposure to professional food-service environments through vocational education and part-time work. Hence, rather than resulting primarily from intentional disregard for sustainability, food waste often emerges from routine practices, changing schedules, convenience, and uncertainty surrounding food safety and storage.