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This work was supported by a Fulbright US Scholar Program Award and Portland State University. Funding agencies had no role in the design, analysis or writing of this article. C
Published In
Public Health Nutrition
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
1-1-2020
Subjects
Food Waste
Abstract
Objective: To explore factors that minimize lunch waste in Tokyo elementary schools and to consider how such factors can be modified and applied in US schools.
Design: Focused ethnographic study using interviews, observation, participant observation and document review. Data were analysed using thematic analysis.
Setting: Tokyo, Japan.
Participants: Five school dietitians participated in the study. Data collection methods included in-depth interviews, observation of nutrition education lessons, participant observation of school lunchtime and review of relevant school documents (e.g. lunch menus, food waste records).
Results: Five themes emerged from the analysis: (i) reinforcement of social norms to eat without waste; (ii) menu planning to increase exposure to unfamiliar and/or disliked foods; (iii) integration of food and nutrition education into the school curriculum; (iv) teacher lunchtime practices related to portion sizes, distributing leftover food and time management; and (v) engagement of students in reducing school lunch waste. Practical and tangible applications to US schools include measuring and reporting lunch waste to influence social norms, teaching students about the importance of reducing food waste, offering flexible school lunch portion sizes and providing students with meaningful opportunities to contribute to solving the problem of school lunch waste.
Conclusions: Japan offers a model for minimizing school lunch waste through a holistic approach that includes factors that operate at and interact across multiple levels of society. Modifying and applying such an approach in US schools is worth considering given the urgent need to address food waste in order to support healthy diets and sustainable food systems.
Rights
Copyright (c) 2021 The Authors
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Locate the Document
DOI
10.1017/S136898001900380X
Persistent Identifier
https://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/32413
Citation Details
Izumi, B. T., Akamatsu, R., Shanks, C. B., & Fujisaki, K. (2020). An ethnographic study exploring factors that minimize lunch waste in Tokyo elementary schools. Public Health Nutrition, 1-10.