Food waste has become a global issue and a major challenge aggravated by its role in climate
change, land, water and biodiversity scarcity, groundwater pollution, and global
deforestation. Tackling food waste prevention and recovery is a priority area. Yet, the
meaning of food waste is subject to interpretation and is not a universally accepted
phenomenon. This is evident across the steps in the food value chain, particularly the
downstream levels, where a myriad of businesses operates across a broad spectrum of
economic, political, socio-cultural, and technological dimensions. This complex system
entails recognition of the professionals ́ views on what constitutes food waste and the factors
that may affect their awareness, sensemaking and reflection. The purpose of this paper is to
contribute to the ongoing debate on the discursive construction of food waste as a wicked
problem by exploring the broad perspective of ́wastage ́ from the perspective of
professionals in institutional and commercial foodservice and retail food stores. This study
applies participatory and visual research methods to achieve a more socially embedded
sustainability research that strives to solution options to the complex challenge of food waste
minimization and management.
