A study on the determination of bread consumption status and waste of university students

Throughout history, the food product that mankind produces and consumes the most is bread. One of the sacred values of our society, it also expresses effort, sharing and fertility. Despite these sacred values attributed to it, it is one of the most wasted food products in our country and in the world. This research was planned and conducted to determine the bread consumption and waste of the students studying at Ankara Hacı Bayram Veli University Faculty of Tourism. The sample of the research consists of 400 undergraduate students studying at Ankara Hacı Bayram Veli University, Faculty of Tourism in the fall semester of the 2020-2021 academic year. It was determined that 59.8% of the students were female and 40.2% were male. It was found that 74.8% of the mothers of the students were housewives, 49.8% were primary school graduates, and 22.5% of their fathers were retired and 37.2% were secondary school graduates. It was determined that 61.8% of the students lived at home with their family and 38.0% had an average income level between 0-500. It was found that 36.1% of the students received the bread from the bakery and 31.7% preferred it because was close, 72.8% consumed white bread every day, 24.0% bought two white bread every day, 18.6% preferred bread because it was satisfactory, 48.2% consumed the bread mostly in the breakfast and 36.0% purchased the bread with a plastic bag. It was found that 29.8% of the students wasted half a loaf of bread and there was a significant difference between bread waste situations and age, grade, average income status and bread purchase behavior (p<0.05). It was determined that 45.0% of the students bought bread a little more than their daily need, 72.0% could not consume the whole bread and used the remaining part differently, 29.8% of the students wasted the unconsumed bread by giving it to animals and 4.8% by throwing it away. It was found that 52.8% of the students thought that bread was wasted because more bread was taken than needed. It was determined that 95.2% of the students thought that giving the stale bread to animals was not a waste, while 95.2% of the students thought that throwing the stale bread into the garbage was waste. It was found that 52.5% of the students completely agree with the statement "Bread is the basic food item". It has been determined that students who buy more bread than their daily needs as a precautionary measure waste more bread than other students. Buying more bread than needed is the main reason for wastage. However, since bread is easily accessible, it is of great importance for students to change their shopping habits and buy enough bread to meet their daily needs.