Determining the influence of food user value on the intention to waste tomatoes at home

To date, there is no evidence on how food user value influences the intention to waste food at home. We experimentally tested the influence of the freshness of tomatoes and them being grown in/on one’s garden/balcony on the intention to waste tomatoes at home (n = 454). We uncovered a significantly lower intention to waste them if they were described as still fresh (versus no longer fresh) and a lower intention to waste them if they were homegrown (versus bought). It did not make a difference whether fresh tomatoes were store-bought or homegrown. However, once the tomatoes were no longer fresh, the purchased tomatoes were much more likely to be thrown away than the homegrown tomatoes.