Role of food waste as a resource of power: an ethnographic case study of food aid restructuring

Purpose This study examines how food donations are used as a power resource in Finnish food charity, and how the restructuring of food aid impacts the quantity and quality of the food distributed. It highlights changes at the organizational level and explains (un)expected outcomes of the restructuring. Design/methodology/approach Data were collected using ethnographic fieldwork in two independent case studies in Finland. These compare an independently operating food bank and a restructured surplus food terminal surrounded by a network of satellite points and were analysed through structuration theory. Findings The study reveals how closely power and food are interlinked in charitable food systems and how the power positions have changed during the restructuring. The restructuring significantly reduced the unwanted fringe effects of food charity and improved the safety of donations. However, it resulted in the loss of most donors and therefore failed to achieve its goal of recovering food waste. Originality/value The study makes a novel theoretical contribution by being the first to analyse food as a power resource through the lens of structuration theory, specifically in the context of the restructuring of food aid practices.