Food Waste Reduction through Consumers’ Agency and Material Interventions: A Case Study of Middle-Class Consumers in Kunming, China

This project examines the sociological dimensions of food waste at the consumption stage, focusing on Kunming, a mid-sized, multi-ethnic city in Southwest China. Conducted over a 9-month multi-sited ethnography at various food consumption sites and through in-situ interviews with 44 participants from 29 middle-class households, this research explores how Kunming consumers navigate sustainable food practices. Drawing on sociological frameworks such as gender and intersectionality (Collins & Bilge, 2020), actor-network theory (Callon, 1999; Latour, 2007), and social practice theory which recognizes the impacts of material entities (Shove et al., 2012), the study investigates how intersecting social identities, non-human mediators, and alternative foodways shape sustainable consumption and contribute to food waste prevention.

To be specific, Kunming participants were influenced by both physical and virtual artifacts in their food consumption environments, such as the "empty-plate" advocacy in workplace canteens and the “no-utensils” options on Chinese takeaway platforms. However, the effectiveness of these environmental interventions depended on both their implementation and consumer engagement. Additionally, consumers’ agency played a significant role in reducing food waste. Female ethnic minority participants, for example, employed the indigenous marinating techniques to preserve food and extend its shelf life. Meanwhile, younger professionals turned to digital platforms like Douyin (the Chinese version of TikTok) to source cross-regional foods, such as salmon from Xinjiang salt water, which they perceived as safer and less polluted than local options, helping to prevent food waste driven by safety concerns. This research provides valuable insights into how diverse social identities and contemporary artifacts contribute to sustainable food consumption and food waste reduction in an urban, multi-ethnic context.