Share or Waste? Using an ICT-platform to Share Food on a University Campus

Considering that food production for human consumption has a large environmental impact, food waste is major challenge for sustainable development. Although food waste occur at all phases in the food supply chain, private consumption has been identified as a major phase of food waste generation. Intervening at this phase provides an opportunity of change. The article reports the testing of a digital prototype designed to facilitate for employees and students at a university campus to share food. A representative group tested the prototype and associated food sharing activities for two weeks. At the closing of the test period they filled in a questionnaire evaluating their experience. Twenty-three responses were obtained showing that twelve people used the prototype for collecting food, whereas nine used it for sharing their food. Six people did both. Main reasons for not collecting food included lack of time, unavailability of shared food in their proximity and inaccessibility of spaces where food was located. Main reasons for not sharing food were that they lack of food to share, lack of time, and that sharing was possible without the prototype. General conclusions from the study are that people will use a digital service for sharing food in the workplace if there is a critical mass of users and if an effective organization of sharing and collecting food is provided.