Research on the level of knowledge of teachers and students around food waste

How well informed are students and teachers about the phenomenon of food waste? Why do most people associate it only with social impact while ignoring two other important dimensions? The environmental burden and the waste of money?

In the framework of the Erasmus + project FOOD RESCUE, the project participants from Greece, France, Cyprus, Austria and the Netherlands conducted a survey with the aim of investigating the level of knowledge of teachers and students around the topic of food waste.

From the research in which 92 teachers participated, it is shown that most do not know the correlation between food waste and economic waste and a negative environmental footprint. Also, only 30% of teachers are familiar with the Youth Participation method and 28% with STEM maker education.

Also of interest are the results of the survey we conducted on 397 students, based on which children show more interest in learning about animal protection, while 83% of respondents have participated in environmental actions. Although a high percentage (89%) have basic knowledge about food waste, they still associate it more with the social than the environmental and economic dimension.

It is positive, however, that 56% of respondents consider it to be a significant problem and should definitely be addressed.

The goal of the above research is to identify the information gaps that exist in the student and educational community and to design a targeted and innovative educational program. The program will include educational materials on food waste, the climate crisis, youth participation tools, a teacher training program, in order to lay the foundations for the cultivation of climate literacy and the adoption of sustainable and responsible consumption principles by students and teachers.