The Development of a Food Waste Reduction Commitments Questionnaire Tool for Food Retailers in the United States

Background

In the United States (U.S.), approximately one-third of the food supply is wasted. Although few food waste policies exist to enforce food waste reduction (FWR) in food retail settings, many food retailers (FR) have corporate social responsibility (CSR) commitments to reduce food waste. To date, no evidence-based measurement tools exclusive for evaluating FWR efforts in food retail exist.

Objective

To develop and validate a questionnaire to evaluate FRs’ commitments to reduce food waste.

Study Design, Settings, Participants

This study had two phases; 1) to review existing literature to guide questionnaire development and 2) to conduct cognitive interviews to assess face validity of the developed questionnaire. Literature on existing FWR and sustainability frameworks guided the development of questionnaire items. Feedback for the questionnaire was gathered through structured cognitive interviews. Participants were recruited via purposive sampling. Inclusion criteria were that they were older than 18 years, worked in the U.S., and worked as a food systems researcher/professional.

Measurable Outcome/Analysis

Participants were asked about the overall questionnaire, areas that needed clarification, and the scoring system. Interviews continued until data saturation was met. The interviews were audio recorded, transcribed using Otter.AI, de-identified, and analyzed for recurring themes using inductive thematic analysis.

Results

The initial questionnaire contained six domains informed by existing FWR literature. These included current FWR commitments, food waste prevention practices, food rescue practices, food recycling practices, other sustainability-informed practices, and future commitments. Participants of the cognitive interview (n=4) mentioned that the tool was comprehensive and aligned with the Environmental Protection Agency Wasted Food Scale. Suggestions for improvement included adding a domain to address retailers employee education for FWR, improving readability of the questionnaire, and including examples of public FWR policies.

Conclusions

This evidence-based questionnaire comprehensively addresses areas for FWR among US FR. Future researchers can use this questionnaire to assess current CSR commitments toward FWR. Additionally, FR and policymakers can use this tool to guide the development of FWR initiatives.

Funding

Circle of Friends