Food waste in terms of Islamic economy, determinants of food waste

Food waste is a significant concern from the perspective of Islamic economics. Islamic economics emphasizes the efficient use of resources, justice, social balance, and cooperation. Within this framework, food waste is incompatible with the fundamental principles of Islamic economics. In Islam, the wasteful consumption of food and beverages is strongly disapproved of, a concept reiterated in various passages of the Qur'an. Our study comprises an introduction and five sections. The introduction discusses the importance, purpose, and methodology of the study. The first section, which forms the conceptual groundwork, provides dictionary and literature meanings of the concepts of thrift and consumption waste. It then explores perspectives on consumption and waste, including capitalism's view on the consumer society and waste, heterodox views on the concepts of consumption and waste, the consumer society in Islamic economics, thrift and waste in Islam, and types of waste. The second section outlines the main framework of the thesis. It delves into the issue of food waste, examining global and Turkish food waste, the causes of food waste, and preventive measures from both producer and consumer perspectives. The third section discusses the research methodology. The fourth section presents the findings, while the fifth section covers conclusions and recommendations. This study aims to analyze food waste from the perspective of Islamic economics and identify the factors influencing food waste. The demographic variables are provided in the first part of the survey, and the second part consists of questions related to attitudes toward food waste. The survey was prepared and implemented using Google Forms, with 461 participants. After eliminating incomplete or deemed inaccurate surveys, 444 were considered for evaluation, utilizing a convenience sampling method. Exploratory factor analysis was conducted for the Food Waste Scale, followed by inter-factor correlation analysis. The research revealed six dimensions influencing consumers' attitudes toward food w-aste.