We are thrilled to announce that Food Systems Lab has received a Seeding Food Innovation Grant to conduct research on the efficacy and innovative potential of food waste awareness campaigns. This research is led by our team at the University of Toronto, in partnership with the National Zero Waste Council and City of Toronto.
Study Goals
The goal of this study is to better understand the efficacy of awareness campaigns to increase awareness of the negative impact of food waste and encourage residents to take action to reduce food waste at home. Through this study, we will identify strategies to:
- Motivate food waste reduction;
- Determine factors that would result in behavioural changes; and
- Identify innovations that can be incorporated into food waste awareness campaigns.
The findings from this research can help governments, businesses, and organizations working on food waste issues to prioritize interventions and strategies for reducing household food waste based on data and evidence.
Our Approach
Building on materials developed for Love Food Hate Waste Canada, we are going to test different types of campaigns in neighbourhoods in the City of Toronto. The pilot campaigns will run over 12 weeks, starting in the summer of 2018. Strategies that we will test distribution of information, door-to-door engagement, community workshops, and a web-based game. Data from participant surveys and waste composition studies at the beginning, end, and three months following the end of the campaign will be collected to monitor progress. We are excited to be the first research study in Canada testing gamification strategies on the topic of food waste.
What’s Next?
Over the next couple months we are preparing our research materials for our pilot campaign launch. We plan to post updates throughout our research program. Questions about our research can be directed to Tammara Soma, Director of Research at tammara@foodsystemslab.ca.
