Simple awareness leads to reduction in food waste

Jan. 14—College students threw out 15 percent less food after researchers peppered dining halls with short anti-waste slogans, according to new study.

"If you can get it into people's minds to talk about food waste, that's when little changes take effect," said lead author Kelly Whitehair, an instructor of hospitality management and dietetics at Kansas State University. "Change doesn't have to involve a huge elaborate campaign," she told Reuters Health.

To determine the best way to use written messages to change food waste behavior and get students thinking, Whitehair's team posted the simple slogans "All Taste... NO WASTE" and "EAT WHAT YOU TAKE, DON'T WASTE FOOD" for two weeks at campus all-you-can-eat dining halls.