A step in the journey to food waste: How and why mealtime surpluses become unwanted

This paper explores how and why Saudi householders designate mealtime leftovers as unwanted, thereby making them more likely to become waste. The paper argues that although over-provisioning is cited as one of the main antecedents for food waste, food becomes unwanted before it becomes waste and the designation of over-provisioned food as unwanted is an important but neglected driver of food waste. The study draws on in-depth interviews with 28 Saudi women to reveal four main reasons for the classification of leftovers as unwanted. First, food touched by others, such as plate leftovers, is perceived as unclean because it fosters feelings of disgust. The causes of this disgust are related to changes in social norms of eating. Second, clean leftovers are seen as less desirable for hedonistic reasons because they do not provide the same sensory eating experience as fresh food. Third, the rejection of leftovers might be related to the implications of rising levels of affluence for the attractiveness of leftovers. Lastly, food becomes unwanted as a result of social norms regarding eating home-cooked food outside the home. This highlights the possible influence of norms on the wider issue of food waste. These findings illustrate the circumstances in which food is categorized as unwanted and underline the significance of social and hedonistic factors. Such findings help us to better tackle the issue of food waste by providing in-depth insights into an important part of the journey between over-provisioning and food waste. The findings also strengthen the scarce literature on food waste in Arabic and other Islamic countries and highlight underlying normative and cultural aspects in such countries that are relevant to the issue of household food waste.