Reducing food waste is globally considered as a key challenge in developing sustainable food systems. Although most food waste is generated at the household level, consumers hardly recognize their responsibility, and the factors underpinning their perception of the quantity of food wasted at home are still unclear. This paper aims to fill this gap by analyzing the results of a large-scale survey conducted in Italy. The perceived quantity of household food waste was measured through a Likert scale and analyzed by means of a logistic regression against a set of predictors, including food waste motivations, perception of the effects of food waste, and sociodemographic variables. As expected, the perceived quantity of food waste declared by respondents was very low. Among the main determinants, food shopping habits and the level of awareness about the reasons why food is wasted played a key role. In contrast, the perception of the environmental effects of food waste seemed to be less important. Differences among subsamples recruited in different areas of Italy were detected, suggesting that further studies, as well as awareness-raising policies, should also consider context-related variables.

Retail food waste represents a minor fraction of the total amount of food waste produced along the food supply chain (tenfold lower than the quantity of food disposed of by consumers at home). However, the role of retailers is crucial in shaping both the behavior of upstream food chain actors and the preferences of consumers. This paper studies the causes of food waste in retail stores and discusses potential mitigating actions based on the results of nine focus groups held in 2017 with 67 foods category managers. Participants used sticky notes to outline both the causes of in-store food waste and potential actions to address it. Sticky notes reporting 228 causes and 124 actions were collected during the study. Data were analyzed across thematic macro-categories and linked to the responsibility of supply chain actors, including managers at all store management levels. Results revealed that food category managers consider in-store operations (which include their actions and those of their subordinates) to be most responsible for retail food waste. However, when it comes to proposing actions against food waste, they believe that store managers are mainly responsible for the implementation of waste reduction actions. This study suggests that food category managers are key actors to involve in the fight against retail food waste. Greater effort should also be put towards informing and encouraging store managers to take action against food waste in supermarkets.

The food waste debate has flourished during the last years, leading to an impressive increase in the number of scientific publications

Innovation is a key issue in the discussion about the links between agriculture, food production and sustainability. Indeed, the creation, adoption and exploitation of innovations can interact with all three dimensions of sustainability – environment, society and economy. Despite the increasing support for innovation practices in the agrifood sector from institutions and public policies, innovation in this sector has spread quite slowly. Indeed, the diffusion of innovations strongly depends on the social, institutional and productive system behind the technological/structural features of the farms. The analysis of the drivers underpinning the innovation diffusion dynamics in agriculture is therefore a very interesting topic for studies in this domain. This paper aims to provide a map of the diffusion of innovations in the Italian agricultural sector, highlighting differences and territorial specificities. We try to explain the drivers and factors influencing such specificities, drawing from data on the agricultural sector as well as information on the institutional and regulatory framework. Data on the diffusion of product, process, organizational and marketing innovations in agriculture have been gathered for the 110 Italian provinces, drawing from the 2010 Agricultural Census survey. Maps of the diffusion of the different types of innovations have then been constructed and analysed. Results show that the diffusion of the different innovation types is not uniform within the country. Some are typical to specific areas where productive or market opportunities occur. Others are not territorial-specific but are linked to the features of the single farms. The influence of the regulatory context also seems to play a significant role. By analysing the local expenditure in rural development intervention, we analyses how the synergies among the productive and institutional systems may act as a driver for innovation diffusion in agriculture.