International Food and Agribusiness Management Review Volume 18 Issue 3, 2015 Food Movements in Germany: Slow Food, Food Sharing, and Dumpster Diving a b Meike Rombach and Vera Bitsch a Research Associate, Chair Group Economics of Horticulture and Landscaping, Technische Universität München, Alte Akademie 16, 85354 Freising, Germany b Professor, Chair of Economics of Horticulture and Landscaping, Technische Universität München, Alte Akademie 16, 85354 Freising, Germany Abstract The study investigates the motivation to participate in food movements, as well as the activities and knowledge regarding food waste of active food movement members in Germany. The study builds on theories of social movements. A total of 25 in-depth interviews with activists of the Slow Food organization, the Food Sharing organization, and with dumpster divers were recorded, transcribed, and analyzed through qualitative content analysis. Participation in the movements rests upon instrumental, ideological, and identificational motivations. The knowledge of food waste differs between the three movements. Sharing, food waste, and tendencies of anti-consumerism play a strong role in all movements. Keywords: activism, food waste, in-depth interviews, qualitative content analysis, social movements Corresponding author: Tel: + 49.8161.71.2536 Email: M. Rombach:
[email protected] V. Bitsch:
[email protected] 2015 International Food and Agribusiness Management Association (IFAMA). All rights reserved. 1 Rombach and Bitsch Volume18 Issue 3, 2015 Introduction In Germany, food waste occurs in agricultural production, post-harvest, processing and private households (Gustavsson et al. 2011). Food waste is estimated at 11 million tons per year; about 65% of which are avoidable and partly avoidable. The term avoidable refers to food waste that is still safe for human consumption at the time of disposal.