Shaping Waste Attitudes: A Psychological Analysis

Where does food waste begin and where does it end? Food waste is a pervasive problem that exists within sectors of agriculture, economics, engineering and culture. Beyond accounting for roughly “21% of [our] freshwater, 19% of our fertilizers, 18% of our cropland... [and] 21% of our landfill volume,” (Lewis 2022, 1) waste has historically accounted for “$161 billion [about $500 per person in the U.S.] worth of food in 2010 [alone]” (U.S. Department of Agriculture 2023, 1). These figures have only risen since 2010, with an estimated increase of 5% from 2010 to 2024. Each sector within the agricultural cycle is offering new solutions to slow the effects of this problem through methods of direct physical influence or social communication. Physical solutions offer an engineer's approach by implementing systems of anaerobic digesters, composters, or incinerators to deal with post-consumer waste via disposal or repurposing. Although these solutions have been shown to successfully reduce food waste, they contribute to the principle of sum cost. This principle states that there is an increased possibility of inflicting feelings of obligation to manage and use these processes onto participating individuals, which may be detrimental to American families and businesses that will not receive additional funding. 

What if a costless approach was considered? How could behavior observation and alteration mitigate food waste? Food waste behavior is a learned response to the issues present within the global circular cycle. The unregulated and unhealthy approach to over-farming, processing, distribution, and consumption normalizes waste behavior. Furthermore, the industrialization and commercialization of agriculture has put forth an unrealistic standard for “quality” and “portion,” which is then reflected through self-reported data depicting that consumers justify waste due to inadequate quality or overwhelming portions. These “justifications” are internal responses to learned or observed behavior over time. The presence of these unsustainable environmental cues triggers a lack of urgency and poor habitual behaviors.