Digital food sharing and food insecurity in the COVID-19 era

Tamar Makov, Tamar Meshulam, Mehmet Cansoy, Alon Shepon, Juliet B. Schor

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

15 Scopus citations

Abstract

Sharing food surplus via the digital sharing economy is often discussed as a promising strategy to reduce food waste and mitigate food insecurity at the same time. Yet if and how the global pandemic has affected digital food sharing are not yet well understood. Leveraging a comprehensive dataset covering over 1.8 million food exchanges facilitated by a popular peer-to-peer food sharing platform, we find that UK activity levels not only rose during the Covid-19 pandemic, but outperformed projections. A potential explanation for this growth might be the rise of food insecurity during the pandemic. Yet examining the sociodemographic characteristics of platform users, average user activity and food exchanges before and during the pandemic, we find no compelling evidence that the platform's pandemic-era growth results from a large influx of food insecure users. Instead, we poist that the growth in digital food sharing relates to lifestyle changes potentially triggered by the pandemic.

Original languageEnglish
Article number106735
JournalResources, Conservation and Recycling
Volume189
DOIs
StatePublished - 1 Feb 2023

Keywords

  • COVID-19
  • Circular economy
  • Food insecurity
  • Food waste
  • Peer-to-peer
  • Sharing economy

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Waste Management and Disposal
  • Economics and Econometrics

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