Consumer Behavior and Awareness

Research in this area pertains to the drivers of and solutions to food waste on the consumer end. Post-purchase waste currently holds the largest potential for prevention of food loss. Solutions from standardized labeling to improved systems for donations can drastically reduce the waste that happens beyond the grocery store. Goals in this area include researching ways to minimize food waste by consumers and support policies that would increase food and information access.

Projects

FOGWaste uses multiple scales of interventions to promote responsible waste water management

Claire Napawan

California's nutrition education leaders meet in Sacramento to discuss ways to optimize food resources and reduce food waste

Wendi Gosliner

The Freedge

Ernst Oehninger

Freedge promotes the installation of community fridges [public refrigerators] that are used to share food and ideas at the neighborhood level. It provides resources to help future hosts through the process of installing a community fridge. This project is funded by The Green Initiative Fund.

Feminist perspectives on food waste and design

"Design Thinking for Food" Course

Charlotte Biltekoff

Wiriyaphanich, T., J.X. Guinard, E. Spang, G. A. Challamel, R. T. Valgenti, D. Sinclair, S. Lubow, E. Putnam-Farr. Food Choice and Waste in University Dining Commons—A Menus of Change University Research Collaborative Study. Foods 2021, 10(3), 577; https://doi.org/10.3390/foods10030577

Kurzer, A., T. Wiriyaphanich, C. Cienfuegos, E. Spang, J. Guinard. (2020) Exploring fruit’s role in dessert: The Dessert Flip and its impact on university student acceptance and food waste. Food Quality and Preference, Vol 83. doi: 10.1016/j.foodqual.2020.103917

Gosliner, W., T. Delaney, S. Caldwell, J. M. Lee, N. Billups, S. Floor. (2019). The Planning, Implementation, and Evaluation of California's Inaugural Food Waste Prevention Week. Journal of Public Health Management and Practice. doi: 10.1097/PHH.0000000000000896

Napawan N. Claire, Ellen Burke, and Sahoko Yui. (2017) “Women’s Work: An Eco-Feminist Approach to Environmental Design,” Avery Review 27.

Feenstra G and Campbell D. Local and Regional Food Systems. Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program, University of California, Davis, USA. 2016

Kaiser L, Lamp C, Ganthavorn C, Farfan-Ramirez L, Behar M, Cantwell M, Hardesty S. 2015. UCCE efforts improve quality of and demand for fresh produce at WIC A-50 stores. Calif Agr 69(2):105-109.

Napawan, N. C. (2015). “Productive Place: Evaluating Communally-Managed Urban Farms as Public Space,” Landscape Journal.

Scherr R, Cox R, Feenstra G, Zidenberg-Cherr S. 2013. Integrating local agriculture into nutrition programs can benefit children's health. Calif Agr 67(1):30-37.

Eating Right in America: The Cultural Politics of Food and Health Charlotte Biltekoff. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2013.

Zong R, Cantwell M, Morris L. 1993. Angled luffa, bitter melon, fuzzy melon, yard-long bean… Postharvest handling of Asian specialty vegetables under study. Calif Agr 47(2):27-29.