Unraveling the power and influence of language

Association for Psychological Science

A choice was made to include each word in this sentence. Every message, even the most mundane, is crafted with a specific frame in mind that impacts how the message is perceived.  

The study of framing effects is a multidisciplinary line of research that investigates when, how, and why language influences those who receive a message and how it impacts their response.  

This multifaceted science is in the spotlight in the latest issue of Psychological Science in the Public Interest. Stephen Flusberg of Vassar College and his team provide a comprehensive review of framing-effects research, including describing a survey of common framing effects and a taxonomy of linguistic framing techniques. Throughout the paper, they make the case for the powerful effects framing has on society and the ways individuals perceive the world.  

“The focus on linguistic control in popular media may reflect a deeper concern—and fascination—with the force of language in our daily lives,” the authors wrote. “We routinely use words to try to influence what other people are thinking, feeling, and doing.”  

The use of war metaphors, for example, generates an increased sense of urgency when used to describe an issue (Flusberg et al., 2017, 2018). Terms that describe war can also shape our beliefs around a specific topic. A previous study compared the impact of using the words “battle” and “journey” to talk about cancer. Participants who read the story framed as a battle believed the cancer diagnosis was more fatal than those who read the story framed as a journey (Hauser & Schwarz, 2020).  

“Metaphors are especially effective for shaping beliefs about abstract and complex issues like cancer because they leverage what you know—your cognitive frames—about more concrete, familiar domains like battles and journeys,” the authors wrote. 

Flusberg is joined by coauthors Kevin Holmes (Reed College), Paul Thibodeau (Oberlin College), Robin Nabi (University of California, Santa Barbara), and Teenie Matlock (University of California, Merced).  

The authors conclude the paper with a set of recommendations to consider for effective framing and to help inspire reflection on the role of framing in society.  

“A deeper understanding of the psychology of framing can enhance not only our communication skills and ability to navigate our linguistic environments, but also our prospects for getting things done,” they wrote. “The research we have reviewed serves as a reminder to be mindful of both the words and phrases we use ourselves and the ones that grab our attention or generate a strong emotional response.”  

In a commentary published alongside the paper, James Walsh from The Agency Fund wrote the report makes a case for a fresh perspective on the psychology of framing. Frames are more than just mental shortcuts, he explained—they also play a foundational role in cognition. Walsh pointed out that framing research has expanded beyond psychology, noting its important contributions to economics and government policy.  

“Flusberg et al. show that we have come a long way in our understanding of frames in the last 100 years,” wrote Walsh. “Emerging evidence suggests that we’re only just beginning to leverage their full potential, though. The coming 100 years promises to be even more exciting.”  

 

References  

Flusberg, S. J., Holmes, K. J., Thibodeau, P. H., Nabi, R., & Matlock, T. (2024). The psychology of framing: How everyday language shapes the way we think, feel, and act. Psychological Science In the Public Interest, 25(3).

Flusberg, S. J., Matlock, T., & Thibodeau, P. H. (2017). Metaphors for the war (or race) against climate change. Environmental Communication, 11(6), 769–783. https://doi.org/10.1080/17524032.2017.1289111   

Flusberg, S. J., Matlock, T., & Thibodeau, P. H. (2018). War metaphors in public discourse. Metaphor & Symbol, 33(1), 1–18. https://doi.org/10.1080/10926488.2018.1407992 

Hauser, D. J., & Schwarz, N. (2020). The war on prevention II: Battle metaphors undermine cancer treatment and prevention and do not increase vigilance. Health Communication, 35(13), 1698–1704. https://doi.org/10.1080/10410236.2019.1663465 

Walsh, J. (2024). How frames can promote agency. Psychological Science In the Public Interest, 25(3). 

---

Journal

Psychological Science in the Public Interest

DOI

10.1177/15291006241246966 

Method of Research

Literature review

Subject of Research

People

Article Title

The Psychology of Framing: How Everyday Language Shapes the Way We Think, Feel, and Act

Article Publication Date

20-Dec-2024

 

Six new tree species named: 3 from Panama, 3 from Colombia

Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute

 

image: 

Matisia aquilarum, found in Panama's Chagres National Park, was named in reference to the presence of a harpy eagle nest in the tree.

view more 

Credit: STRI Herbarium

Botanists José Luis Fernández-Alonso, of the Royal Botanical Garden of Madrid, and Ernesto Campos, research technician at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI) in Panama, named six new tree species based on comparisons made among collections of dried plant specimens from across the Neotropics. Of these six, three of the new species have only been found in Panama: Matisia petaquillae, Matisia changuinolana and Matisia aquilarum. The new species from Colombia identified in the same report are Matisia genesiana, Matisia mutatana and Matisia rufula.

The first two Panamanian species were named in reference to the places where they were collected and the third, Matisia aquilarum, found in Chagres National Park, was named in reference to the presence of a Harpy Eagle nest in the tree, recorded by ornithologist Karla Aparicio and botanist Ruby Zambrano.

Botanists often collect large numbers of plant samples. The samples are dried, pressed between pieces of cardboard, and then mounted on  special paper and filed in herbaria. Herbaria are specialized collections of dried plants, carefully stored in environmentally controlled spaces for the long-term preservation of specimens. Currently, herbarium curators have created online digital images of many specimens that facilitate access and exchange of knowledge.

But it still depends on expert plant taxonomists to identify the samples. Plant specimens that cannot be easily identified may wait years until the expert in a particular group of plants compares collections from across the region and has the final say on whether a sample represents a species that no one has encountered before.

"In 2022, Fernández-Alonso contributed to confirming the identification of another tree, Matisia tinamastiana, from Cerro Trinidad in the Altos de Campana Forest Reserve and National Park, which turned out to be a new report for Panama," Campos said. "This gave rise to our current collaboration."

To identify this new set of species, Fernández-Alonso analyzed plant samples stored in herbariums in Costa Rica, Colombia, Ecuador, and the United States. In Panama, with the help of Ernesto Campos, it was possible to complete revisions of the collections of herbaria at the University of Panama (PMA), Summit Canal Zone (SCZ) housed at STRI, and at the Autonomous University of Chiriquí (UCH).

Thanks to collections made by STRI senior botanists, Rolando Pérez and Salomón Aguilar, it was possible to expand the distribution range of Matisia aquilarum, with a specimen found at a study site in Chagres National Park. The site is part of the ForestGEO-STRI forest monitoring network. This additional specimen, used for the description of the species, belonged to a collection at STRI, which was later deposited in the SCZ herbarium and thus contributes to increasing the representativeness of species in that collection.

"We are currently working on the identification of other plant samples with the support of Joana Sumich, technician in the SCZ herbarium. Some were collected decades ago by Pérez and Aguilar in the ForestGEO plots and we have indications that there may be more species in their collections that are new records for Panama or new to science," said David Mitre.

To make it easier for non-experts to identify the plants in this group, the authors include an updated dichotomous key of Matisia species for Panama in their manuscript. The last published identification key for Panama of this kind dates back more than half a century.

"Herbaria are not just collections of dried plants," said David Mitre, research manager for ForestGEO-STRI in Panama, "they are a source of new information in the long term.”

“Discoveries like this remind us how important it is to make sure that protected areas are really well protected," Mitre said. The forests of Panama and Colombia are home to many plant species that are not only important to the animals that live there but may be sources of new pharmaceuticals and other resources, of which we are not yet aware.

“Smithsonian plant collections and the talented curators on our staff give researchers from around the world the ability to correctly identify plants,” said Joshua Tewksbury, STRI Director. “This window into the world of plants leads to discoveries of new pharmaceuticals and makes it possible for conservationists to justify protection for natural areas where rare species flourish.”

 

Reference:

Fernández-Alonso, José Luis y Ernesto Campos Pineda. 2024. Malvaceae neotropicae novae vel minus cognitae XII. Nuevas especies de Matisia de Colombia y Panamá. Revista de la Academia Colombiana de Ciencias Exactas, Físicas, y Naturales. 48(189)897-921, octubre-diciembre de 2024 doi:https://doi.org/10.18257/raccefyn.3072.

 

# # #

Images available upon request

 

First set--two laminas of Matisia petaquillae, dried and fresh: Compare these images of Matisia petaquillae. Both show characteristics needed to identify this species. The first, a dried specimen from the University of Panama herbarium, shows a branch and highlights the very small details that distinguish this plant from its close relatives. The set of images, taken in the forest, show the large buttress roots, the orange color that the inner bark when exposed to air, a fresh branch, and fruit pulp around the seeds. It is much easier to identify plants with both fresh and dried samples. But most of the id’s in this study were based only on dried specimens—some of them decades old.

 

4_herbario de stri_2024_20.11-24.jpg

Joana Sumich and Ernesto Campos holding dried plant specimens in the Smithsonian herbarium.

 

New Matisia species from Panama

Matisia petaquillae

Matisia changuinolana

Matisia aquilarum

 

New Matisia species from Colombia

Matisia genesiana

Matisia mutatana

Matisia rufula

 

 

---

Journal

Revista de la Academia Colombiana de Ciencias Exactas Físicas y Naturales

DOI

10.18257/raccefyn.3072 

Method of Research

Observational study

Subject of Research

Not applicable

Article Title

Malvaceae neotropicae novae vel minus cognitae XII. Nuevas especies de Matisia de Colombia y Panamá

Article Publication Date

23-Dec-2024

 

'Capture the oxygen!' The key to extending next-generation lithium-ion battery life

Pohang University of Science & Technology (POSTECH)

 

image: 

Control of surface crystal structure changes and battery lifespan characteristics influenced by interfacial stability

view more 

Credit: POSTECH

   

A research team led by Professor Jihyun Hong from the Department of Battery Engineering Department of the Graduate Institute of Ferrous & Eco Materials Technology at POSTECH, along with Dr. Gukhyun Lim, has developed a groundbreaking strategy to enhance the durability of lithium-rich layered oxide (LLO) material, a next-generation cathode material for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs). This breakthrough, which significantly extends battery lifespan, was published in the renowned energy journal Energy & Environmental Science.

 

   Lithium-ion batteries are indispensable in applications such as electric vehicles and energy storage systems (ESS). The lithium-rich layered oxide (LLO) material offers up to 20% higher energy density than conventional nickel-based cathodes by reducing the nickel and cobalt content while increasing the lithium and manganese composition. As a more economical and sustainable alternative, LLO has garnered significant attention. However, challenges such as capacity fading and voltage decay during charge-discharge cycles have hindered its commercial viability.

 

   While previous studies have identified structural changes in the cathode during cycling as the cause of these issues, the exact reasons behind the instability have remained largely unclear. Additionally, existing strategies aimed at enhancing the structural stability of LLO have failed to resolve the root cause, hindering commercialization.

 

   The POSTECH team focused on the pivotal role of oxygen release in destabilizing the LLO structure during the charge-discharge process. They hypothesized that improving the chemical stability of the interface between the cathode and the electrolyte could prevent oxygen from being released. Building on this idea, they reinforced the cathode-electrolyte interface by improving the electrolyte composition, which resulted in a significant reduction in oxygen emissions.

 

   The research team’s enhanced electrolyte maintained an impressive energy retention rate of 84.3% even after 700 charge-discharge cycles, a significant improvement over conventional electrolytes, which only achieved an average of 37.1% energy retention after 300 cycles.

 

   The research also revealed that structural changes on the surface of the LLO material had a significant impact on the overall stability of the material. By addressing these changes, the team was able to dramatically improve the lifespan and performance of the cathode while also minimizing unwanted reactions like electrolyte decomposition inside the battery.

 

   Professor Jihyun Hong commented, “Using synchrotron radiation, we were able to analyze the chemical and structural differences between the surface and interior of the cathode particles. This revealed that the stability of the cathode surface is crucial for the overall structural integrity of the material and its performance. We believe this research will provide new directions for developing next-generation cathode materials.”

 

This research was supported by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy through the Korea Institute for Advancement of Technology, and the Ministry of Science and ICT through the National Research Foundation of Korea, with funding for 2024.

---

Journal

Energy & Environmental Science

DOI

10.1039/D4EE02329C 

Article Title

Decoupling capacity fade and voltage decay of Li-rich Mn-rich cathodes by tailoring surface reconstruction pathways

 

Searching for hidden medieval stories from the island of the Sagas

Hidden and forgotten traces of Iceland’s history can be found in ancient, reused parchments.

Peer-Reviewed Publication

Norwegian University of Science and Technology

 

image: 

“I follow Latin traces from Icelandic manuscripts, but the Latin written material in Iceland has been forgotten. Previous research has focused mostly on texts in Old Norse in Icelandic manuscripts,” said PhD research fellow Tom Lorenz.

 

view more 

Credit: Tom Lorenz/NTNU

Iceland has a long and rich literary tradition. With its 380,000 inhabitants, Iceland has produced many great writers, and it is said that one in two Icelanders writes books. The literary tradition stretches all the way back to the Middle Ages.

“Previously, the theory was that Iceland was so dark and barren that the Icelanders had to fill their lives with storytelling and poetry to compensate for this. But Icelanders were certainly part of Europe and had a lot of contact with Britain, Germany, Denmark and Norway, among others,” said Tom Lorenz, a PhD research fellow at the Department of Language and Literature at NTNU. He is hunting down hidden and forgotten pieces of the island of the Sagas’ literary history.

“The Icelanders were part of a common European culture, and Iceland has been a great knowledge society for a long time.”

Royal lineage

We can thank the Icelanders for our relatively good overview of the royal lineage in Norway, right from the early Viking Age up to the death of Magnus V Erlingsson in 1184.

Icelandic skalds were skilled and sought after, and Norwegian kings engaged skalds to ensure that their story and their feats would be told and passed on. Skalds were poets who composed one of the two kinds of Old Norse poetry in alliterative verse, the other being Eddic poetry. Skaldic poems were traditionally composed to honour kings.

In the Middle Ages, the Icelanders wrote down these oral traditions both in Latin and in Old Norse. Snorri Sturluson was the last and most important in a long line of saga writers who wrote down the kings’ sagas in the 13th century.

This is how the kings’ sagas were preserved.

“In addition to sagas, eddaic poems, and skaldic verse, scientific literature and political treaties were also written in Iceland during the Middle Ages,” said Lorenz.

Valuable vellum

Books and texts from this period were written on parchment, which is animal skins that have been carefully processed so they can be written on.

In Iceland, only exclusive calfskin was used to make parchment. Calfskin parchment is called vellum, and it took dozens of calves to create enough vellum for one book.

Vellum was a very valuable material. If a book became worn out or obsolete, the parchments were reused. Among other things, some were used to make tools, and one fragment that has been preserved was made into a mitre – a type of headgear worn by the bishop of Skálholt in Iceland.

In addition, many parchments were reused as covers for new books.

Unique to Iceland

A common method for reusing old manuscript pages was to remove the original text by scraping and polishing so that the parchment could be used to create new books and manuscripts.

This is called a palimpsest.

“Palimpsests were common in the Middle Ages across Europe, and were particularly widespread in Iceland. Although literarily rich, Iceland was a poor country. The supply of expensive parchment was limited, while the demand was high because the Icelanders had much they wanted to communicate,” said Lorenz.

In Iceland, parchment was also reused for printing books after Gutenberg invented the printing press in the 15th century.

“The fact that there are printed palimpsest books in Iceland and not just handwritten palimpsest parchments is unique in a European context, and this has not been studied before!” Lorenz emphasized.

Abandoned Latin in favour of the vernacular

In Iceland, as elsewhere in Europe, texts and books were written in Latin during the Middle Ages, especially liturgical texts used in ecclesiastical contexts. Latin was the predominant written language of Catholic Europe.

But then came the rebellious priest Martin Luther, the man who started the great protest movement against the powerful Catholic Church.

In the wake of Martin Luther and the Reformation in 1517, many northern European countries converted to Protestantism, including Iceland between 1537 and 1550.

The Reformation brought an end to ecclesiastical manuscripts and books being written in Latin. The language of the common man was now to be used.

Latin script was scraped off existing parchments so they could be used for new texts written in Icelandic, and these became palimpsests.

The old text shines through

“In documents and books made from palimpsest parchments, fragments of the old, original text can sometimes be seen beneath the new text,” said Lorenz.

The texts and words that have been scraped away can also be retrieved using modern techniques, such as infrared rays, but quite a lot of the old text can often be read with the naked eye.

And it is in the hidden remnants of old Icelandic parchments written in Latin that Lorenz is searching for hidden and forgotten pieces of history.

He examines the preserved fragments from these ancient books and also studies the different forms of parchment recycling and reuse.

“My goal is to create virtual reconstructions of some of the ancient fragments that have survived to shed new light on previous eras’ culture and society,” said Lorenz.

However, this involves finding the remnants of the palimpsests, and they are few and far between.

“Hardly any Latin books from medieval Iceland have survived. Due to their rarity, recycled parchment from disassembled Latin books is one of our most important sources in the history of medieval Icelandic books,” said Lorenz.

Drained Iceland of medieval literature

“I follow Latin traces from Icelandic manuscripts, but the Latin written material has been forgotten. Previous research has focused mostly on texts in Old Norse in Icelandic manuscripts,” he said.

From the 17th century onwards, Old Norse texts became important in the building of identity, national pride and power in the Nordic countries.

In Denmark, the Icelander and archivist Árni Magnússon (1663-1730) was tasked with collecting medieval documents from both Iceland and the rest of the Nordic countries. At this time, Iceland was under Danish rule in the absolute monarchy of Denmark-Norway.

Árni Magnússon was particularly interested in texts about Icelandic history. He scoured the market, almost draining Iceland of medieval literature, and built a large collection of handwritten books, the Arnamagnæan Collection.

The collection is now part of UNESCO’s Memory of the World Programme.

Tracking down unknown text fragments

However, Árni Magnússon was most interested in books written in Old Norse, not in Latin. He used parchments from the Latin books as covers for the Old Norse books.

In the early 20th century, the book covers were removed and stored separately, and few people have shown much interest in them – until now.

These ancient book covers are among the parchments that Lorenz is studying in his search for hidden and forgotten fragments of history.

Between 1971 and 1997, half of Árni Magnússon’s book collection was returned from Denmark to Iceland, and half of the original collection of 3000 manuscripts is now back in its country of origin.

However, some medieval manuscripts are still located in archives and museums in Norway, Denmark, and also Sweden. So, Lorenz’s search has taken him on a journey through the nooks and crannies of many archives.

“I have identified several previously unidentified Latin fragments related to Iceland. These new discoveries contribute to greater knowledge about which theological and liturgical texts were in circulation in medieval Iceland. The texts show that medieval Icelanders followed and participated in European intellectual culture,” said Lorenz.

The text fragments he has found include hymns, prayers, sermons, hagiographies and church music.

It started with the Vikings

Lorenz is from Schleswig-Holstein in Germany, which used to be part of Denmark-Norway. He developed an interest in the Viking Age and saga literature at an early age, which led him to study Nordic languages in Kiel.

He is now a PhD research fellow at the Department of Language and Literature at NTNU’s Centre for Medieval Studies. He has also chosen to learn Norwegian Nynorsk in addition to Norwegian Bokmål.

“I am fascinated by small phenomena and therefore chose to learn Nynorsk when I started my studies in Norway. It is probably also why I became fascinated and intrigued by the fragments of history that might be contained in the small, hidden and forgotten palimpsests that have remained unknown until now,” said Lorenz in fluent Nynorsk.

This parchment was used to make a bishop’s mitre. The image is owned by and published with permission from the Arnamagnæan Collection in Copenhagen, AM 666 b 4to, 3v-4r. 

Credit

Photo: Suzanne Reitz

Book cover (IMAGE)

Norwegian University of Science and Technology

The cover of this book is made from reused parchments with Latin script. It can be found in the National Library of Sweden in Stockholm. 

 

Credit

Photo: Tom Lorenz

Journal

Gripla

DOI

10.33112/gripla.35.1 

Method of Research

Survey

Subject of Research

Not applicable

Article Title

Recycling and Recontextualisation in Medieval and Early Modern Icelandic Palimpsests

SPACE/COSMOS

A novel disturbance rejection optimal guidance method for enhancing precision landing performance of reusable rockets

Tsinghua University Press

 

image: 

The proposed disturbance rejection optimal guidance method has two key components: real-time nominal trajectory generation and robust neighboring optimal feedback control. Correspondingly, this guidance method unifies two synergistic functionalities, i.e., adaptive optimal steering and disturbance attenuation. The adaptive optimal steering accommodates the modeled disturbance based on an augmented dynamics model, and the disturbance attenuation compensates for the state perturbation effect induced by the remaining unmodeled disturbance.

view more 

Credit: Chinese Journal of Aeronautics

Powered descent guidance (PDG) is a key technology for reusable rockets to accomplish high-precision landing on Earth. Different from the well-established PDG for lunar landing and planetary landing, endoatmospheric powered descent guidance is required to accommodate nonlinear dynamics and more disturbing flight conditions, including engine thrust fluctuation, aerodynamic uncertainty, and winds. For example, the winds can produce a persistent aerodynamic force disturbance on the rocket, resulting in the decrease of landing accuracy, the increase of propellant usage, and even the divergence of guidance commands. Existing works have considered six-degree-of-freedom dynamics and aerodynamic model, but do not systematically deal with disturbances in the guidance design. Therefore, addressing the disturbance rejection issue for endoatmospheric nonlinear optimal guidance is imperative, and the objective is the determination of guidance commands to steer the rocket to fly a trajectory that satisfies the terminal landing conditions and optimizes the performance index of propellant usage in the presence of disturbances.

Recently, a team of researchers led by Huifeng Li and Ran Zhang from Beihang University, China proposed an optimal feedback guidance method with disturbance rejection objective. This work represents an advanced engineering design methodology that is capable of unifying optimal guidance performance and disturbance rejection level.

The team published their work in Chinese Journal of Aeronautics on December 14, 2024.

“In this work, we formulated a novel problem called Endoatmospheric Powered Descent Guidance with Disturbance Rejection (Endo-PDG-DR) by dividing and conquering disturbances. The disturbances are divided into two parts, modeled and unmodeled disturbances; as a result, two different disturbance rejection strategies are accordingly adopted to deal with the two kinds of disturbances: the modeled disturbance is proactively exploited by optimizing the formulated guidance problem where the modeled disturbance is augmented as a new state of the dynamics model; the unmodeled disturbance is reactively attenuated by adjusting the second-order partial derivative of the Hamiltonian of the optimal guidance problem with a parameterized time-varying quadratic performance index.” said Huifeng Li, professor at School of Astronautics at Beihang University (China), a senior expert whose research interests focus on the field of flight vehicle guidance and control.

“A new Pseudospectral Differential Dynamic Programming (PDDP) method is developed to solve the Hamilton-Jacobi-Bellman equation of the Endo-PDG-DR problem, and correspondingly a robust neighboring optimal state feedback law is obtained with a simple affine form that is favorable for real-time implementation. More importantly, the obtained optimal feedback guidance law unifies two synergistic functionalities, i.e., adaptive optimal steering and disturbance attenuation. The adaptive optimal steering accommodates the modeled disturbance, and the disturbance attenuation compensates for the state perturbation effect induced by the remaining unmodeled disturbance.” said Huifeng Li.

“Using the derived optimal feedback guidance law, a disturbance rejection level is quantitatively measured by rigorously characterizing an input-output property from the unmodeled disturbance to the predicted guidance error. Based on the quantified disturbance rejection level, a simple and practical quadratic weighting parameter tuning law is proposed to attenuate the adverse effect of unmodeled disturbance.” said Huifeng Li.

However, more delicate research works are still needed to explore guidance robustness. In this regard, Li also put forward three major development directions may be pursued in future works including online model identification, highly constrained optimal trajectory generation, and guidance parameter learning.

Other contributors include Ran Zhang and Xinglun Chen from School of Astronautics at Beihang University (China).

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 62103014).

---

About Chinese Journal of Aeronautics 

Chinese Journal of Aeronautics (CJA) is an open access, peer-reviewed international journal covering all aspects of aerospace engineering, monthly published by Elsevier. The Journal reports the scientific and technological achievements and frontiers in aeronautic engineering and astronautic engineering, in both theory and practice. CJA is indexed in SCI (IF = 5.3, top 4/52, Q1), EI, IAA, AJ, CSA, Scopus.

---

Journal

Chinese Journal of Aeronautics

DOI

10.1016/j.cja.2024.103336 

Article Title

Optimal feedback guidance with disturbance rejection for endoatmospheric powered descent

Article Publication Date

24-Dec-2024

 

How the freezer factors into lowering food waste

Study: Over half of consumers buy frozen items to avoid tossing food

Ohio State University

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Putting extra holiday cookies and leftovers in the freezer will not only extend their shelf life – it could also put a dent in the U.S. household tendency to throw away edible food, a new study suggests.

The national survey found that discarded frozen items make up about 6% of wasted household food in the United States. Based on frozen food’s relatively small contribution to food waste and other findings in the study, researchers say urging consumers to stock their freezers might be one way to prevent premature disposal of food.

Results showed that though overall food waste remained high, there was a bright spot: Freezing food was associated with less food landing in the trash.

“We found that households with home freezing behaviors are more likely to have less food waste than other households,” said Lei Xu, first author of the paper and a postdoctoral scholar specializing in agricultural and food economics at The Ohio State University.

“Food waste is not just an economic loss – it also causes environmental damage because more than 90% of wasted food goes to the landfill, and this can produce greenhouse gas emissions,” Xu said. “The findings suggest that in the future, if we can encourage households to have home freezing behaviors, this small change in food storage habits can have a large environmental impact.”

Xu completed the study with graduate student Ran Li and senior author Brian Roe, professor in the Department of Agricultural, Environmental and Development Economics at Ohio State. The research was published recently in the British Food Journal.

Roe has been studying household food waste for years, but this is the first study to tease out where frozen food fits into the food waste picture. Recent estimates have suggested about 30% of food in the United States is wasted, but other research led by Roe suggests consumer food waste is trending upward.

“The fact that food waste is still increasing may suggest to policymakers that campaigns could be useful to educate households about balancing purchasing behavior and making the most of the food they buy,” Xu said.

The current study data comes from frozen food-related questions added to the summer 2022 wave of the U.S. National Household Food Waste Tracking Survey in which 1,067 households participated. Respondents were asked to estimate the percentage of all discarded food in the previous seven days that had been frozen and whether it was bought frozen or was unfrozen and placed in the freezer later. They also reported the typical frequency of buying frozen foods.

The responses indicated that 85% of U.S. households buy frozen foods and among those, 55% of participants reported they purchased frozen food to reduce waste. Frozen food purchasers were more likely to shop infrequently – two to three times per month – and were more likely to be living in households with annual income of under $50,000. The most common categories of discarded frozen foods were meat (20% of total frozen food waste), vegetables (22%) and potatoes and grains (15% each).

“Based on what we’re seeing among households, we still have space to increase awareness to save food by using freezing behavior,” Xu said.

Data showed a link between frequent home freezing and significantly less total food waste. Respondents most likely to freeze fresh items or extra food were aged 45 years and older and living in households of three or more people – a possible sign, the authors said, that consumers with a home freezing routine may be more experienced at managing meals for a group and motivated to avoid food waste.

What the team considered somewhat surprising – and enlightening – was the finding that about 30% more of wasted frozen food was discarded from the refrigerator than from the freezer.

“Thinking about why that happens, it might mean they don’t understand food storage techniques and don’t understand how long they should keep certain foods and where they should put it,” Xu said. “This suggests more explicit food storage instructions on food labels could educate consumers about how to correctly store foods to reduce waste.”

Trends in the data suggest that consumer education about the freezer’s role in saving food could make a difference economically and environmentally, Xu said, and also help address the societal problem of food insecurity experienced by 10% of U.S. households.

“Half of consumers buy frozen food to reduce waste. What about the other half?” she said. “We want to increase social awareness of how to save food, and explain how people use frozen food and home freezing techniques to save food. And freezing is one of the most accessible techniques because essentially all households have a refrigerator and freezer.”

This work was supported by the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture, the National Science Foundation and a gift from the Frozen Food Foundation that facilitated collection of a larger survey sample size.

#

Contact: Lei Xu, Xu.3448@osu.edu

Written by Emily Caldwell, Caldwell.151@osu.edu

 

---

Journal

British Food Journal

DOI

10.1108/bfj-02-2024-0147 

Method of Research

Survey

Subject of Research

People

Article Title

Frozen food purchasing and home freezing of fresh foods: associations with household food waste