Fungal fermentation is a promising strategy to secure affordable, nutritious and sustainable food. Encouraging engagement with fungi-based food is crucial to contribute to social, economic, and environmental sustainability. Reflections can trigger a sense of meaning in engaging in activities and with resources. The aim of this mixed methods study was to explore perceptions of whether participants think their own engagement with fungi-based food is consequential. To do so, the study explored ecoethical reflections relating to whether participants thought engaging with fungi-based food is beneficial or not beneficial for the environment. This study also explored glocal reflections of whether participants thought their own engagement with this kind of food is beneficial or not beneficial in ways that extend to people around them (i.e., local population) or people in other parts of the world (i.e., global population). N = 160 participants completed questionnaires. Most participants expressed a positive outlook, believing that embracing fungi-based food could promote increased sustainability and overall well-being for humans and the environment in numerous different ways. The perceptions that participants shared can affect and trigger conscious engagement with fungi-based food locally with awareness of its global impact which, in turn, can promote well-being for individuals and extend to the population level and thereby contribute to efforts at archiving sustainable development. Nevertheless, the findings highlight a necessity for more information to enable individuals to engage in knowledgeable reflections and, ultimately, act upon their values and what is meaningful to them. The results are important for future development and conceptualization of not only fungi-based food but also other food that is expected to contribute to sustainable development.

Purpose

This study investigates factors motivating upcycled food choices and assesses the association between these factors and hesitancy towards upcycled food consumption in a Swedish population.

Design/methodology/approach

An online food choice questionnaire was used. Participants (n = 682) were categorised into Inclined and Hesitant groups based on their intention to consume upcycled foods. The factors motivating upcycled food choices were identified using explanatory factor analyses. Independent t-tests assessed the differences in the mean importance score of factors between the two groups. The association between upcycled food choice factors and hesitancy towards consumption was evaluated by logistic regressions (adjusted for sociodemographic characteristics).

Findings

The most important upcycled food choice factor in both groups was ethical concerns, followed by natural content, sensory appeal, price, healthiness, familiarity and impression. The Inclined group's mean importance score for ethical concern was higher than the Hesitant group (p(value)<0.001) and, except for natural content, the mean importance scores for the other factors were higher in the Hesitant group compared to the Inclined group (p(value)<0.05). Participants who perceived ethical concern as an important factor had lower odds of hesitancy (Odds ratio = 0.39; 95%CI:0.26,0.59; p(value)<0.001), and those who considered sensory appeal an important factor had higher odds of hesitancy (Odds ratio = 2.42; 95%CI:1.62,3.63; p(value)<0.001) towards upcycled food consumption compared to participants who did not consider these as important factors.

Originality/value

This is the first study investigating health and non-health-related upcycled food choice motives using a food choice questionnaire. Identifying these motives helps food developers and researchers determine factors influencing upcycled food consumption.

Estimates suggest that a substantial volume of food intended for human consumption is lost or wasted globally, underlining the importance of reducing food waste to address environmental concerns. This study examines the generation and associated carbon footprint of 25 different food waste fractions from ten Brazilian street markets. The aim is to identify hotspots within food product categories, analyse the causes of food waste and investigate potential risk factors that hinder the reduction of food waste. This research seeks to provide support when deciding on prevention and valorisation measures, and waste management strategies to enhance the sustainability of the agrifood system. The study reveals that 4.98 kg and 20.15 kg of food per stall are wasted every week in street markets at Ribeirão Preto and São Paulo, respectively, resulting in an average carbon footprint of 6.74 kg and 35.20 kg CO2 eq. per stall. The three food product categories that have the largest carbon footprint are (1) unavoidable food waste, (2) leaves, flowers and stems, and (3) meat. The annual food waste generation in Ribeirão Preto and São Paulo street markets is estimated to be 0.50 and 2.22 kg per capita per year, respectively. This suggests that diverting organic food waste, particularly unavoidable waste, from landfills to other waste management methods holds significant potential for reducing the carbon footprint. Leaves, flowers and stems as well as meat should be prioritized for prevention measures.

Fungi-based food is expected to contribute to more sustainable food systems. The present study has three focus areas: (i) aspects that affect food choices food in daily life, (ii) aspects that affect choices of fungi-based food in particular, and (iii) drivers that motivate, and barriers that prevent, engagement in cultivating fungi and cooking fungi-based food at home. One hundred and sixty participants, who were recruited using convenience sampling, filled out qualitative questionnaires. The results show that there are numerous aspects (e.g., environmental benefits, nutrition, sensory characteristics, production practices and ingredients) that are important when people choose food in daily life. In addition to curiosity, many of these aspects also affect the choice of fungi-based food. The study identified more drivers (e.g., self-providing, curiosity, awareness of ingredients) than barriers (time, knowledge, concerns about contamination) to cultivation and cooking of fungi-based food at home. The findings are relevant for the development of fungi-based food so that this type of food is engaged with, and so that it can contribute to more sustainable food systems.

Multidisciplinary approach is used to evaluate concrete with recycled concrete aggregates (RCA) from technical, environmental impacts and product circularity perspectives. Two RCA replacements investigated, RAC50: fine aggregates; RAC100: both coarse, fine aggregates. Reference, recycled concretes have same cement content, similar workability and compressive strength requirement, proven experimentally. RCA is sourced from pre-fab element discards of a Swedish plant, the logistical alternatives requiring environmental impact analysis. Alternatives are RCA crushing at plant and crushing at a different location including transportation. LCA shows transportation is second largest contributor after cement in all impact categories. RAC alternatives show lower total impact than reference concrete due to RCA replacement. A circularity index for concrete based on economic value of recirculated aggregates; supplements LCA for sustainability reporting. Circularity index results: RAC100 > RAC50 > RC. Combining circularity index with LCA helps optimize recycling process with regard to amount of recycled material and logistics respectively.

It is widely acknowledged that environmental impacts from packaging waste depend on how consumers sort this waste fraction. In this research, “design for sustainable behavior” (DfSB) strategies are used to improve a cream packaging design that can support proper sorting of packaging waste as a sustainable behavior. The application of three DfSB strategies—“match”, “steer”, and “force”—was examined through circular interviews and practical experience with two groups of participants in Karlskrona, Sweden. Prototyping was used to provide a more realistic experiment and enhance communication during the interviews. The results show that consumer-packaging interaction during the usage phase is important to enhance proper sorting behavior. The results also show the potential of a user-centered design-based approach to study consumer-packaging interaction and to understand the challenges faced by users when sorting packaging waste. It also shows the possibility of packaging design to script consumer behavior and reveals details that are important when designing packaging that was not known. In this vein, packaging form, color, and haptic attributes are the most influential design attributes that can support packaging functionalities and script consumer sorting behavior.

This study investigates people's preferences for nutritional, environmental and food safety characteristics of upcycled foods according to their age group and assesses the association between age and the importance of these characteristics in a Swedish population. A food choice questionnaire was used for data collection, and 681 Swedish residents aged ≥18 years participated in this study. In young, middle-aged and older adults, environmental (environmentally friendly preparation and packaging, local production and contribution to food waste reduction) and food safety (absence of additives, chemicals, genetically modified ingredients and contamination) characteristics of upcycled foods were more important than most nutritional characteristics (low energy and fat content and high fibre and protein content). There was a positive association between age and the importance score of nutritional characteristics, such as rich in vitamins and minerals, low energy and fat content and minimal food processing (P-value < 0.05). A negative association was observed between age and the importance score of contribution to food waste reduction (P-value = 0.014). There was a positive association between age and the importance score of food safety characteristics, such as the absence of additives, chemicals and genetically modified ingredients (P-value < 0.05). Therefore, the environmental benefits and food safety aspects of upcycled foods can be considered for product development and marketing to facilitate the acceptability of these foods in all age groups. Since the nutritional attributes of upcycled foods were less important than their environmental and food safety characteristics, strategies should be introduced to educate people regarding desirable nutritional features to enable them to choose healthy upcycled foods. 

Providing food security to the growing global population, and the resource depletion associated with current food systems, let to calls for more sustainable food sources. Food that can be produced in a sustainable way (taking all three aspects of sustainable development into consideration) is currently emerging in Western societies. Through tastings, insight can be gathered not only into sensory characteristics but also other aspects that aid innovation and development of food. The current study identified aspects that can affect tastings of emerging food by reviewing relevant literature. General aspects; meat alternatives; ingredients or processing technologies; information, prior knowledge and (un)familiarity; taste and liking; emotional factors; and willingness to engage with emerging food can affect tastings of emerging food. Awareness of the effect that these aspects can have on methodological considerations and results can be constructive in future research that use tastings as a platform to develop new and emerging food. The findings are significant for food science in terms of cornerstones towards potential industrial applications. These include innovating new types of food, assessing most effective technologies in the context of such food, developing new products, and understanding engagement with emerging food products.

This research aims to understand why consumers miss-sort plastic food packaging and to what extent the design affordance of packaging can influence consumer sorting behavior. A photo-based observation study and semi-structured interviews were used to gain a deeper understanding of the miss-sorting behavior and how it could be affected by design affordance. This explorative study suggested that the packaging form, size, durability, haptic aspects, and visual communicative properties influence how consumers perceive the value of packaging. This is important, because packaging with low attributed values are not considered worth recycling or correctly sorted and are more likely to be miss-sorted. Hence, a well-afforded food packaging design is expected to improve how consumers perceive the value of packaging and to consequently improve sorting behavior.

Resource dependency of food production is aggravated when food is wasted. In Sweden, it is estimated that 37% of the total bread waste is generated at the household level. This work aimed to assess whether fermentation using edible filamentous fungi at households can provide a solution to valorize leftover bread in the production of fungi-based food for consumption. Bread was fermented in household and laboratory conditions with Neurospora intermedia and Rhizopus oligosporus. The results show that bread can be successfully and easily fermented at households, without signs of microbial contamination even though the conditions were not sterile. Fermentation at the household resulted in higher protein, fat and fiber content as well as greater starch reduction compared to the samples fermented under laboratory conditions. Household engagement in bread fermentation will likely depend on values that motivate reusing leftover bread. Perceived values that are expected to motivate engagement vary across individuals, but may include improved nutritional benefits, food waste prevention, convenience, responsibilities, and being part of sustainable societies and actions.