Stop wasting, start tasting! Design speculations for reducing food waste in the hospitality sector

Abstract

Food is an essential nutritional source for all humans, yet tons of food is wasted at an increasing rate each year. Although previous HCI studies examined this issue, most of this work focuses on the domestic context. To the best of our knowledge, no study explored the food waste in hospitality sector from a design perspective. Addressing this gap, we made observations and interviews in a high-end hotel restaurant kitchen to better understand the sources of food waste in restaurants. From our findings, we envisioned three design speculations which can inspire HCI researchers and practitioners explore this issue further.