Research
Household food waste generation in a net-zero energy community: Analyzing relationships between household food wasting and pro-environmental knowledge, attitudes, and behaviours
Haley Everitt, Paul van der Werf, Jamie A. Seabrook, Jason A. Gilliland
Abstract: To address the prominent “value-action gap” within pro-environmental behaviour, this novel, cross-sectional study investigated relationships between household food wasting and pro-environmentalism. Research was undertaken in 11 neighbourhoods across London, Ontario, Canada, including a net-zero energy neighbourhood. A direct measurement methodology was used to measure household food waste, and a survey was created to measure knowledge, attitudes, and behaviours related to food wasting. Households in the net-zero energy neighbourhood sent between 2.59 kg and 2.80 kg of food waste to landfill per week, of which 68% was classified as avoidable and the remaining 32% as unavoidable. Households in this neighbourhood sent less total (p < 0.001) and unavoidable (p < 0.001) food waste to landfill than households in “regular” neighbourhoods within the same city. While participants in the net-zero neighbourhood had strong, self-reported pro-environmental worldviews, pro-environmentalism was not found to be stronger in this neighbourhood compared to the rest of the city. The presence of stronger, self-reported pro-environmental worldviews was associated with a decrease in unavoidable food waste generation (p < 0.01). As the first study of its kind, further research is needed to verify the role of pro-environmentalism in household food wasting in Canada and beyond.
Reference: Everitt, H., van der Werf, P., Seabrook, J. A., & Gilliland, J. A. (2024) Household food waste generation in a net-zero energy community: Analyzing relationships between household food wasting and pro-environmental knowledge, attitudes, and behaviours. Canadian Geographies / Géographies canadiennes, 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1111/cag.12921
A direct measurement approach to understanding influences to household food wasting
Haley Everitt
Abstract: In response to the environmental, economic, and social impacts of wasting food, the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal 12.3 aims to halve per capita global food waste by 2030. Aligned with this goal, the overarching research question of this dissertation is: how do pandemic circumstances; a knowledge-based, food waste reduction intervention; and pro-environmental knowledge, attitudes, and behaviours influence the quantity and composition of household food waste generation? A key component of this research was to follow a direct food waste measurement methodology, where curbside waste samples from households in London, Ontario, Canada were collected, weighed, and sorted to determine the quantity and composition of wasted food. Additionally, this research used a survey to measure knowledge, attitudes, and behaviours related to household food wasting. During COVID-19, households sent 2.81 kg of food waste to landfill per week, of which 52% was classified as avoidable food waste and 48% as unavoidable food waste. The generation of unavoidable food waste increased by 65% during the pandemic. These findings can be leveraged to influence policy aimed at developing sustainable solutions for waste management. To address the need for policies and programs that reduce household food waste, the long-term effectiveness of a household food waste reduction intervention was evaluated. Results indicate that the intervention has led to a long-term, sustained 30% reduction in avoidable food waste sent to landfill, demonstrating the potential for the intervention to continue to have a meaningful impact. As one of the only studies to measure the long-term effectiveness of a household food waste reduction intervention, this research fills a gap in our current understanding of intervention efficacy. Knowledge of how pro-environmentalism influences household food wasting contributes to strengthening our understanding of the complex, intersecting factors that result in wasted food. Households in a net-zero energy neighbourhood sent less total and unavoidable food waste to landfill than households in ‘regular’ neighbourhoods. While net-zero energy neighbourhood participants had strong, self-reported pro-environmental worldviews, pro-environmentalism was not found to be stronger in this neighbourhood than others in the city. Overall, this research contributes to our understanding of household food waste generation and the development of household food waste reduction strategies.
Reference: Everitt, H. (2023). A Direct Measurement Approach to Understanding Influences to Household Food Wasting (9617). [Doctoral dissertation, Western University]. Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository. https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/etd/9617
A review of household food waste generation during the COVID-19 pandemic
Haley Everitt, Paul van der Werf, Jason A. Gilliland
Abstract: The COVID-19 pandemic may have impacted the quantity and composition of household food waste generation in parallel with recent changes to food behaviors. A literature review was undertaken to determine the state of household food wasting during pandemic circumstances. Forty-one articles that reported on household food waste generation during COVID-19 were identified. Most of these studies relied on self-reported recall of food wasting behavior (n = 35), primarily collected through surveys. The average total amount of household food waste generated during COVID-19 was 0.91 kg per capita per week. Average avoidable food waste generation was 0.40 kg per capita per week and average unavoidable food waste generation was 0.51 kg per capita per week. Fruit and vegetables were the most wasted types of food. Only five studies reported statistically significant changes (actual or perceived) to household food waste generation during COVID-19. These results indicate a possible decrease in total, perceived food waste generation during pandemic circumstances, with a possible increase in the actual generation of unavoidable food waste. Further research is needed to adequately determine the impact of the pandemic on household food waste generation, as the findings summarized in this review vary substantially and statistically significant results are limited.
Reference: Everitt, H., van der Werf, P., & Gilliland, J. A. (2023). A review of household food waste generation during the COVID-19 pandemic. Sustainability, 15(7):5760. https://doi.org/10.3390/su15075760
The proof is in the pudding: Using a randomized controlled trial to evaluate the long-term effectiveness of a household food waste reduction intervention during the COVID-19 pandemic
Haley Everitt, Paul van der Werf, Jamie A. Seabrook, Jason A. Gilliland
Abstract: To halve per capita global food waste by 2030, policies and programs that effectively reduce household food waste generation are needed. Building upon a previous randomized controlled trial, this study evaluated the long-term effectiveness of the “Reduce Food Waste, Save Money” household food waste reduction intervention by comparing direct measurements of household food waste generated by treatment (n = 47) and control households (n = 52) over three time periods. The results indicate that there has been a long-term, sustained 30% reduction of avoidable food waste sent to landfill by treatment households following the implementation of this intervention. Additionally, this study assessed the impact of pandemic circumstances on the quantity and composition of household food waste by comparing direct measurements of food waste generated by the same households before (October 2017) and during (June 2020) the COVID-19 pandemic. During the first wave of the pandemic in Ontario, Canada, study households (n = 99) sent 2.98 kg of food waste to landfill per week, of which 54% was classified as avoidable food waste, and the remaining 46% as unavoidable food waste. During the pandemic, the generation of unavoidable food waste significantly increased by 65% (p < 0.01). There were also significant changes to the composition of wasted food, including a 78% increase in avoidable fruit and vegetables (p < 0.01), a 228% increase in avoidable other food (p < 0.01), and an 84% increase in unavoidable other food (p = 0.02).
Reference: Everitt, H., van der Werf, P., Seabrook, J. A., & Gilliand, J. A. (2022). The proof is in the pudding: Using a randomized controlled trial to evaluate the long-term effectiveness of a household food waste reduction intervention during the COVID-19 pandemic. Circular Economy and Sustainability. https://doi.org/10.1007/s43615-022-00193-7
The quantity and composition of household food waste during the COVID-19 pandemic: A direct measurement study in Canada
Haley Everitt, Paul van der Werf, Jamie A. Seabrook, Alexander Wray, Jason A. Gilliland
Abstract: The COVID-19 pandemic may have amplified the environmental, social, and economic implications of household food waste. A better understanding of household food wasting during the pandemic is needed to improve the management of waste and develop best practices for municipal waste management programs under crisis circumstances. A waste composition study was undertaken with 100 single-family households across the city of London, Ontario, Canada to determine the quantity and composition of household food waste disposed in June 2020, during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. This study examines how household demographic, socioeconomic, and neighbourhood food environment characteristics influence household food wasting. On average, each household sent 2.81 kg of food waste to landfill per week, of which 52% was classified as avoidable food waste and 48% as unavoidable food waste. The quantity and composition of household food waste was found to be strongly influenced by the number of people and children in a household, and somewhat influenced by socioeconomic factors and neighbourhood food environment characteristics, including the availability, density, and proximity of retail food outlets.
Reference: Everitt, H., van der Werf, P., Seabrook, J. A., Wray, A., & Gilliland, J. A. (2022). The quantity and composition of household food waste during the COVID-19 pandemic: A direct measurement study in Canada. Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, 82, 101110. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.seps.2021.101110
The impact of climate change awareness on children's mental well-being and negative emotions – A scoping review
Gina Martin, Kristen Reilly, Haley Everitt, Jason A. Gilliland
Abstract: Climate change is a threat to children’s physical health, but there are also implications for mental well-being. Additionally, children may experience negative emotional responses stemming from an overarching awareness of the imminent threats to the planet due to climate change. Using a scoping review, we examined the impact of climate change awareness on children’s mental well-being and negative emotions. Our aim was to identify and describe the existing literature and highlight priorities for future research. Three specific objectives guided the review: (1) to identify and provide an overview of research regarding the impact of climate change awareness on children’s mental well-being and negative emotions; (2) to summarize and clarify the terminology related to climate change awareness and children’s mental well-being and negative emotions; and (3) to make recommendations for areas of future research. Thirty-three articles were included in a narrative synthesis. Many articles were reviews or editorials/commentaries. Of the empirical research, most were from Europe, North America, and Australia. The articles emphasized a large range of negative emotions that children felt about climate change, with anxiety and worry being the most researched and discussed. The research on the impact of awareness of climate change on children’s mental well-being and negative emotions is in its early phases. Efforts are needed to advance conceptual clarity and operationalize concepts. Additionally, there is a need for research into the impact of climate change awareness on children’s mental well-being and negative emotions among a greater diversity of people and places. Existing studies provide an encouraging basis from which to develop future research.
Reference: Martin, G., Reilly, K., Everitt, H., & Gilliland, J.A. (2022). The impact of climate change awareness on children’s mental well-being and negative emotions - a scoping review. Child and Adolescent Mental Health, 27:59-72. https://doi.org/10.1111/camh.12525
Our Food Future: A regional food circularity case study from Canada
Haley Everitt, Kate Parizeau
Abstract: In response to the socio-economic and environmental limitations of contemporary food systems, a multistakeholder group of community changemakers came together to create Our Food Future, an ambitious effort that aimed to develop a regional circular food system in the Guelph-Wellington region of Ontario, Canada. This study involved interviews with individuals (N = 35) who contributed to the development and/or implementation of Our Food Future’s programming and projects in order to identify lessons learned from this municipally led circular economy initiative. In this article, we argue that the proponents of Our Food Future worked to leverage circular economy and municipal innovation discourses and practices to catalyze a sustainability transformation based in the local food system. Perceived enablers to success include the centrality of relationships and partnerships to the project design, collaborations across traditional city/county divides, the diversity of thought embodied by the workstream model, the focus on food as a locally relevant issue, and the municipal scale of intervention into policy and practice. We also observed that the municipal governance model operationalized in the project was itself an innovation. Our analysis indicates that Our Food Future represented systemic and enabling approaches to sustainability transformations, and that structural transformation will require ongoing efforts to fundamentally change the socio-ecological context of contemporary food systems. This study functions as an early case study of regional food circularity initiatives, with the goal of enabling the project’s lessons to be applied to other locales in Canada and abroad.
Reference: Everitt, H., & Parizeau, K. (2026). Our Food Future: A regional food circularity case study from Canada. Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development, 15(2), 143–158. https://doi.org/10.5304/jafscd.2026.152.024
Love Food Hate Waste Canada’s 2026 National Food Study
Make the most of your food’ challenge: A behaviour change intervention to address the impacts of ‘best before’ dates on household food wasting
Feeding knowledge, cutting waste: The influence of food literacy on household food wasting in Canada
Haley Everitt
Objective: Love Food Hate Waste Canada conducted a National Food Study to strengthen our understanding of knowledge, attitudes, and behaviours related to household-level food wasting. The objective of this research is to identify and examine factors that influence household food wasting in 2026, within the context of the cost-of-living crisis, declining food security, the ‘Buy Canadian’ movement, and eight years of the Love Food Hate Waste program in Canada.
Reference: Everitt, H. (2026). Love Food Hate Waste Canada’s 2026 National Food Study. FoodMesh: British Columbia, Canada.
Haley Everitt, Pia Nagpal, Megan Czerpak
Objective: Love Food Hate Waste Canada developed the “Make the most of your food challenge” (i.e., “the challenge”) – a four week behaviour change intervention that aimed to reduce the impact of best before dates on household-level food wasting through increased food literacy and strengthened food skills. This research aimed to determine if and how the challenge influenced knowledge of best before dates, behaviours related to determining food safety, and relevant food management behaviours.
Reference: Everitt, H., Nagpal, P., & Czerpak, M. (2026). Love Food Hate Waste Canada’s “Make the most of your food challenge”: A behaviour change intervention to address the impacts of ‘best before’ dates on household food wasting. FoodMesh: British Columbia, Canada.
Haley Everitt, Eric Douglas
Summary: This resource document, commissioned by Environment and Climate Change Canada, aimed to determine if and how food literacy and food skills knowledge influence household food waste generation and management practices in Canada. To inform this work, a literature review situated within the Canadian geographical context was undertaken to identify the most up-to-date literature published on this topic. To complement the literature review, subject matter experts — from varying sectors and Canadian geographies — were interviewed to gather further insights and perspectives on the drivers, barriers, and trends influencing household food waste generation. Overall, the literature review yielded 23 results and ten interviews were conducted. The findings of this study suggest that food literacy is a complex and multidimensional determinant of household food wasting. These relationships are further complicated by knowledge-behaviour gaps as well as systemic barriers related to time and money. Additionally, household food provisioning behaviours are likely influenced by a retail environment that incentivizes overconsumption and often works against household food waste reduction. Future research should continue to explore determinants related to key pillars of food literacy and food skills, such as food systems knowledge, planning, shopping, preparation, and storage.
Reference: Everitt, H., & Douglas, E. (2026). Feeding knowledge, cutting waste: The influence of food literacy on household food wasting in Canada. FoodMesh: British Columbia, Canada.