SELECTED ASPECTS OF REDUCING FOOD WASTE IN THE CONTEXT OF SHARING ECONOMY DEVELOPMENT

Abstract

The aim of the study was to identify selected forms of consumer activity in reducing food waste that refer to the idea of the sharing economy, and to determine the involvement of representatives of Generation Z – in this process. In addition to secondary sources, the results of a survey conducted in May 2023 on 303 students using the CAWI method were presented. The authors assumed the thesis that one of the ways to reduce food waste can be the sharing economy, the development of which is a kind of counterbalance to the progressive consumerism. An important role in this process should be attributed to foodsharing. The survey found that these initiatives are still not widely available and poorly publicized, with most of the interviewees admitting that they had never encountered them. A more popular form of saving food from being thrown away appeared to be mobile apps that allow people to purchase food at risk of going out of date, but only one in eight respondents on average said they used them regularly. In order to increase the popularity of this type of solution, it is necessary to intensify educational activities in various media and conduct regular public campaigns to raise awareness of the problem of food waste and its negative consequences, particularly by highlighting the problem of world hunger and the disastrous impact of discarded food on the climate.

Keywords

• food waste
• food chain
• foodsharing
• sharing economy
• generation Z