“EMPLACED” WASTE: A CONTENT ANALYSIS OF FOOD WASTE HOUSEHOLD SURVEYS

ABSTRACT

Waste materials are ontologically inseparable from the context of their production. While much early food waste research has focused on quantification and consumer psychology, researchers in a range of disciplines would now benefit from alternate frameworks in which to spatialize the chimerical matter of food waste. To suggest generative paths for the future of food waste research, this study investigates spatial concepts already engaged in “emplaced” household food waste surveys published between 2012 and 2022. Surveys administered within defined geographic areas are considered emplaced. Sixty-eight relevant papers were identified in a systematic literature review. Resulting themes, including regional memberships, questions of scale and synecdoche, qualities of place, food cultures resulting from specific socio-spatial arrangements, and temporal consequences for organic matter, were structured according to Massey’s 2005 spatial provocations and propose fruitful directions for geographers to continue advancing the study of food waste.

Keywords::

• discard studies
• food loss
• food waste
• household survey
• waste studies

Acknowledgments

Thank you to Dr. Shannon O’Lear and Dr. Joane Nagel for thoughtful feedback to early drafts. Many thanks to anonymous reviewers for insightful comments.

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).