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The purpose of this paper is to explore the social value food rescue enterprises can create for both their stakeholders and the wider community “in the meantime” whilst longer term solutions to the problems of insecurity and waste are sought.

FoodShare, a New Zealand urban-based social enterprise specialising in food redistribution, served as a case study for this research. Semi-structured interviews (n=13) were conducted with FoodShare staff and key stakeholder groups (food donors, financial donors, recipient agencies and volunteers). In addition, an anonymous online survey (n=40) was completed by the wider organisational volunteer network. The interview guides were structured around a new social value evaluation tool, Social Return on Investment, which is increasingly used to demonstrate the impact of such programmes. Deductive methods were used to code the resulting transcripts to identify key outcomes experienced by FoodShare’s stakeholders.

The outcomes of FoodShare’s work differed for the various stakeholders. For food donors, outcomes included “more involved relationships with community”, and “improved perceptions of corporate social responsibility”. Identified key outcomes for the financial donors included “key promotional opportunity” and “do something good”. For recipient agencies, important outcomes were “greater volume of food” and “increased reach”. Volunteers reported “meeting new people”, “a sense of accomplishment in helping others” and “learning new skills”. There were also a number of nutritional and environmental outcomes for the wider community.

Given the dearth of evidence on the societal value that is created in redistributing unsold food to people in need, this novel perspective makes a significant contribution to the literature in this area.

Social marketing and other types of targeted behaviour change interventions should appeal to an individual’s personal values in order to improve their effectiveness. However, there is currently little understanding of what these values are in relation to food waste. The purpose of this paper is to identify the values underpinning the specific behaviour of plate waste created in a residential foodservice setting.

In semi-structured interviews (n=50) laddering techniques were used to identify links from behaviours through individual’s rationalisation for that behaviour to their personal values. The aim of the questioning was to uncover underlying drivers that lead to plate waste as well as those barriers to reducing it.

The values identified as being most important are hedonism and self-direction. The specific aspects of these values for plate waste reduction interventions are not compromising on the individual’s enjoyment of the meal and meeting their health goals. Effective interventions include pre-ordering meals, reducing food options provided, reducing plate size, removing food tray and finally, information campaigns to raise awareness.

The study provides insights into the personal values that influence behaviours resulting in plate waste. The study is the first to determine the links between this behaviour, rationalisations for that behaviour and personal values.