CEU Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2017
| Author | Oláh, Dorottya |
|---|---|
| Title | Feeding the world from the bin: The environmental and social transformative potential of grassroots social innovation initiatives in food waste reduction and redistribution |
| Summary | Approximately one third of the food produced for human consumption globally is wasted every year. In the meantime, over 800 million people experience food poverty. In the absence of a satisfactory solution provided by the state, grassroots initiatives are taking a stand by saving edible food waste and surplus food and redistributing it to people in need in the form of food aid, or offering it to people who are willing to take it in a pay as you feel basis. In doing so, they are consciously or unconsciously challenging the system. Transformative Social Innovation theory is assessing the transformative potential and impact of social innovations, placing and exploring them in their respective social-material contexts which they interact with. This study aims to show how the different contexts affect the processes and drivers of SI initiatives and their transformative potential. Education is a common denominator in all of the organizations work, and this study finds that the most pronounced and prevalent effects are reached through education and awareness raising. Transformative Food Politics theory is used to highlight the connections of consumer subjectivities, attitude towards food and food waste and transformative potential. Through education and community engagement, collective subjectivities replace isolated individual subjectivities, which coupled with deeper understanding of the whole food system potentially result in less wasteful, more conscious and more empathetic behavior. Further research is needed and suggested to assess the quantitative environmental impacts (emission reduction, saved economic, environmental and social costs, etc.) of the initiatives. |
| Supervisor | Aistara, Guntra |
| Department | Environment Sciences and Policy MSc |
| Full text | https://www.etd.ceu.edu/2017/olah_dorottya.pdf |
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