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Student spotlight: Emily Narey’s project on food waste

Posted on 28 July 2023

Recent BSc Environmental Science graduate Emily Narey investigates the University’s consumer food waste behaviour.

We’re excited to share a fantastic sustainability project undertaken by one of our wonderful students. Emily Narey, who graduated with a BSc Environmental Science last week, has written her dissertation project investigating consumer food waste behaviour at the University York, and how we can redistribute food to limit waste and support community needs.

We asked Emily to share more about this fascinating project, and what she learned from her experience. Read Emily’s story below:

Tell us about your research project.

My research project was “An Investigation into Consumer Food Waste Behaviour at the University of York: Redistributing Food to Limit Waste and Support Community Needs”.

I aimed to find if there was a need to reduce food waste at the University of York and, based on that, I then aimed to find potential methods to reduce it. I also hoped to find whether it was possible to redistribute some of this food to the local community via means of a community fridge, food-sharing app, or food donations, inspired by the local food waste initiatives Refill Café, The General Store (@Spark), and the apps TooGoodToGo and Olio. I conducted a literature review, questionnaires with the University community at catering outlets, and interviews with members of staff.

Tell us about some key findings from your project. What did you discover about food waste on campus?

What methods could be used to reduce food waste?

Some potential methods I found to reduce/redistribute food waste were:   

What did you learn from your experience doing this project?

I learned that the University community is incredibly supportive when it comes to research and that there are always people out there who are happy to give you information when you ask! I also learned that there is definitely a need to address the amount of food waste at the University of York and that there are a variety of successful methods in studies at other UK universities that could be implemented on our campus to reduce food waste.

What are your future plans?

I graduate this summer and from there I’m exploring different opportunities to further my experience which I hope will lead to a career spent helping the environment. I’m also happy to chat to anyone about my research project if they want any more info!

Emily's dissertation received a 1st class grade. A huge thank you to Emily for sharing her sustainability dissertation project with us and please join us in wishing her every success in her future endeavours!

You can read Emily’s full dissertation here:

Emily Narey's dissertation (PDF , 1,035kb)