Impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on household food waste behaviour: A systematic review
Abstract
Food waste has adverse economic, social, and environmental impacts and increases the prevalence of food insecurity. Panic buying at the beginning of the COVID-19 outbreak raised serious concerns about a potential rise in food waste levels and higher pressure on waste management systems. This article aims to investigate the impact of COVID-19 on food waste behaviour and the extent to which it occurs using the systematic review method. A total of 38 articles were identified and reviewed following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. The findings showed that the COVID-19 pandemic led to reductions in household food waste in most countries. Several changes in shopping and cooking behaviours, food consumption, and managing inventory and leftovers have occurred due to COVID-19. Based on these insights, we predicted that some desirable food-management habits would be retained, and others would roll back in the post-COVID-19 world. The review contributes to the food waste literature by offering a comprehensive overview of behavioural changes during the COVID-19 pandemic and future research directions.
Document Type
Journal Article
Date of Publication
9-1-2022
Volume
176
PubMed ID
35714820
Publication Title
Appetite
Publisher
Elsevier
School
School of Business and Law
RAS ID
52065
Copyright
free_to_read
Comments
Iranmanesh, M., Ghobakhloo, M., Nilsashi, M., Tseng, M. L., Senali, M. G., & Abbasi, G. A. (2022). Impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on household food waste behaviour: A systematic review. Appetite, 176, 106127. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appet.2022.106127