Food waste management and sustainable food practices in Oslo’s nursing homes: The Role of the Agency for Urban Environment’s Team for Sustainable Food

Abstract

Summary Background: International organizations, such as the United Nations and the European Union, indicate that the reduction of food waste is an important task for tackling environmental sustainability challenges. In the City of Oslo, public institutions such as nursing homes have been identified as an arena with the potential to reduce food waste. Previous research has also connected increased food waste with nutritional challenges, such as the decreased availability of nutritious foods and lower food intake, potentially contributing significantly to malnutrition in the elderly.

Objective: To explore the role of the Team for Sustainable Food within the Agency for Urban Environment in Oslo’s nursing homes work with food waste management and sustainable food practices.

Methods: A qualitative design was employed, and semi-structured interviews were conducted with key personnel from the Team for Sustainable Food, the Nursing Home Agency, and two nursing homes. Data analysis involved meaning coding, condensation, and interpretation as described by Brinkmann & Kvale (2018). This study was approved by Sikt (Norwegian Agency for Shared Services in Education and Research).

Results: The findings from this study indicate that the Team for Sustainable Food has been critical in developing and implementing the food waste management routine in nursing homes in Oslo. However, challenges such as resource constraints, food-related knowledge and competence, and suboptimal stakeholder collaboration and communication hinder both the optimal outcomes of the food waste routine and the effectiveness of the Team for Sustainable Food.

Conclusion: Teams, such as the Team for Sustainable Food, can play an important role in developing and implementing routines, such as the food waste routine, in nursing homes. However, daily challenges faced by nursing homes can hinder optimal outcomes. To achieve ambitious sustainability goals, public institutions need adequate budgets and resource allocation, especially for competent personnel.

Keywords: Food waste; public institutions; nursing homes; malnutrition; sustainability Word count: 16’052