O9 Food Systems, Climate Change, and Food Waste: Knowledge, Attitudes, and Beliefs Among Middle School Students

The food system including food waste is a major contributor to climate change and driven largely by consumers. Attitudes and beliefs about food and the environment influence consumer eating and wasting behaviors.To provide baseline data on the knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs of middle school students regarding topics of the food system, climate change, and food waste prior to beginning a food systems education intervention.The data was collected at baseline using a validated student survey and is part of a larger non-randomized cluster controlled trial, Healthy Planet, Healthy Youth. This nutrition education intervention consists of a food system curriculum designed to inform students of the food system and environment to change beliefs, behaviors, and knowledge related to food, the environment, and waste habits.Two public middle schools in central IllinoisSixth-grade students part of the Advancement by Individual Determination (AVID) Program (n = 68, ages 10-12 years).Student's knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs about the food system, food waste, climate change, stewardship, and an underpinning of the Self Determination Theory: relatedness, were measured. Descriptive statistics were run using survey results and participant demographics.The majority of students find themselves throwing away their uneaten food from school lunch (60%) versus when they eat at a restaurant (8%). Likewise, students are more inclined to share or save unwanted food if it is from a restaurant (75%) than if it is from school lunch (19%).Students who identified as White had significantly higher knowledge scores on climate change and a combined knowledge related to farming, natural resources, and food waste, transportation, and processing. They also had significantly higher stewardship scores.Students conserve food differently based on their dining setting. Gaps in knowledge and beliefs about the environment and food system exist across race.None.