Food Wastage Attitudes among the United Arab Emirates Population: The Role of Social Media

The objective of this study is to evaluate food wastage attitudes and the impact of social media among the United Arab Emirates (UAE) population. A questionnaire was distributed via social network applications (n = 525). The majority of the respondents were females (84%) and social media users (99%)...

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Published inSustainability Vol. 14; no. 3; p. 1870
Main Authors Osaili, Tareq M, Obaid, Reyad S, Alqutub, Russul, Akkila, Rawya, Habil, Ala, Dawoud, Ahlam, Duhair, Serin, Hasan, Fayeza, Hashim, Mona, Ismail, Leila Cheikh, Al-Nabulsi, Anas A, Taha, Sadi
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Basel MDPI AG 01.02.2022
Subjects
Attitudes
Bilingualism
Composting
Data collection
Digital media
Environmental impact
Expatriates
Food
Food supply
Food waste
Households
Population
Questionnaires
Social media
Social networks
Social organization
Supply chains
Sustainability
United Kingdom
United Arab Emirates
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Summary:The objective of this study is to evaluate food wastage attitudes and the impact of social media among the United Arab Emirates (UAE) population. A questionnaire was distributed via social network applications (n = 525). The majority of the respondents were females (84%) and social media users (99%). Most of the respondents were well aware of the problem of food wastage (96%). Half of the respondents (53.7 and 48.8%) reported taking some form of action on an ‘often’ basis to reduce food wastage, and buying food as per their needs, respectively. Two-thirds (66.7%) of the respondents stated that their family did not throw away anything from their last meal. A majority (82.3%) felt uncomfortable upon discarding food. A mixed response was observed in terms of food wastage and social media usage. On one hand, using social media was significantly (p < 0.05) associated with measuring the exact quantity of ingredients prior to preparation, lower overall family wastage, eating leftovers, and composting. On the other hand, less-frequent social media users significantly (p < 0.05) had fewer leftovers, checked expiry dates, were more serious about food wastage, and planned to minimize it. Social media should be used with prudence as it may not have a very significant impact on food wastage reduction.
ISSN:2071-1050
2071-1050
DOI:10.3390/su14031870