Normalising alternative practices: the recovery, distribution and consumption of food waste

ABSTRACT

Certain practices are excluded from markets, even though they may contribute to more sustainable systems. Other practices are integral to markets despite their highly detrimental impacts. This study investigates how alternative practices in the food sector became integrated into the market through normalisation processes. Using a qualitative approach, it examines the processes by which practices, including the recovery, distribution and consumption of food waste, went from being excluded from a mainstream food market to becoming normalised within it. Normalisation occurs as a result of retracing the biography of an object, building community, rituals and sacrifices. The author discusses theoretical and managerial implications.

KEYWORDS:

• Alternative practices
• normalisation
• food waste
• qualitative research
• sustainability

Acknowledgments

I would like to thank John Schouten for his feedback on early version of the article. Finally, I would like to thank the editorial and review team for their insightful and constructive comments on this article.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1. Dumpster diving in this context is the practice of retrieving discarded food from supermarket waste bins without the permission or the blessing of store management. Dumpster divers like Victor tend to be relatively affluent activist consumers (Gollnhofer, 2017).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Johanna F. Gollnhofer

Johanna F. Gollnhofer is Assistant Professor for Marketing at the University of Southern Denmark, Denmark, and Research Associate at the University of St. Gallen, Switzerland.