• Behaviour
• Consumption
• Food Imperfection
• Food Waste
• Sustainability

The age of consumerism had some important consequences on natural resources, human health and environment. Therefore, it poses at risk population and ecosystem wellbeing.
From this premise, the purpose of this thesis is studying the concept of sustainable consumption that aims at ensuring a better quality of life for current and future generations and facing each possible threat to environmental integrity. Specifically, a particular attention has been dedicated to the food sector in which the concept of food waste takes shape. Food waste is defined as food that was addressed at human consumption and that have been discarded, lost or degraded. One of the most important causes of food waste is aesthetical imperfection that do not involve consumers to purchase and consume the so-called imperfect food.
In particular, the research of this thesis is focused on evaluating the perception of consumers regarding imperfect fruit and vegetables. From the analysis of data collected through the distribution of a questionnaire, it has been possible to declare that a positive provision of information about the topic of sustainable food consumption can sensitize consumers toward imperfect fruit and vegetables. Indeed, educating consumers about the nutritional integrity of imperfect fruit and vegetables leads to a positive change of their beliefs and emotions regarding this kind of food. Therefore, to fight wastes and unsustainable consumption behaviour it is important to give a special attention to communication, information and education that are the main tools to increase consumers’ awareness about the impact that their actions have on the environment and human health and, at the same time, to increase their possibility to make knowledgeable purchases.

The age of consumerism had some important consequences on natural resources, human health and environment. Therefore, it poses at risk population and ecosystem wellbeing. From this premise, the purpose of this thesis is studying the concept of sustainable consumption that aims at ensuring a better quality of life for current and future generations and facing each possible threat to environmental integrity. Specifically, a particular attention has been dedicated to the food sector in which the concept of food waste takes shape. Food waste is defined as food that was addressed at human consumption and that have been discarded, lost or degraded. One of the most important causes of food waste is aesthetical imperfection that do not involve consumers to purchase and consume the so-called imperfect food. In particular, the research of this thesis is focused on evaluating the perception of consumers regarding imperfect fruit and vegetables. From the analysis of data collected through the distribution of a questionnaire, it has been possible to declare that a positive provision of information about the topic of sustainable food consumption can sensitize consumers toward imperfect fruit and vegetables. Indeed, educating consumers about the nutritional integrity of imperfect fruit and vegetables leads to a positive change of their beliefs and emotions regarding this kind of food. Therefore, to fight wastes and unsustainable consumption behaviour it is important to give a special attention to communication, information and education that are the main tools to increase consumers’ awareness about the impact that their actions have on the environment and human health and, at the same time, to increase their possibility to make knowledgeable purchases.