Student survey data on food waste awareness, attitudes and catering practices in Latvian schools

This dataset is one of the studies of the Latvian Council of Science funded research project “Testing Interventions and Developing a Knowledge-based Recommendation System to Reduce Plate Waste in School Catering in Latvia” (project No. lzp-2022/1-0492). The dataset contains anonymised student survey data collected in Rezekne city schools as part of a broader intervention study on plate waste reduction in school catering. The survey was designed to assess students’ knowledge and awareness of food waste issues, their attitudes towards school catering and lunch management, as well as identify the subjective reasons for plate waste. Two surveys were conducted using an identical questionnaire: a pre-intervention survey at the beginning of the study year (Sep’23) and a post-intervention survey at the end of the study year (Apr’24). The second (post-intervention) survey data were used as the primary dataset for analysis. The first (pre-intervention) survey data were not included in the main analysis of the associated publication, as students, particularly in lower grades, had limited experience with school meals after the summer break and were often unable to provide informed answers. However, these data were retained for selected exploratory and correlation analyses to meet sample size requirements. A detailed description of the survey design, data collection procedure, and analytical approach is provided in the associated publication: Deksne, J., Lonska, J., Kodors, S., Litavniece, L., Zvaigzne, A., Silicka, I., & Kotane, I. (2025). Insights into Awareness and Perceptions of Food Waste and School Catering Practices: A Student-Centered Study in Rezekne City, Latvia. Resources, 14(4), 59. https://doi.org/10.3390/resources14040059 Files: Survey_data_codebook.xlsx - Codebook describing all variables included in the student survey. The file provides question wording, variable names, response options, and coding schemes. Both the first and second survey used identical questionnaires, and therefore a single codebook applies to both datasets. The codebook is provided in Latvian. First_survey.csv - Coded responses from the first student survey. Second_survey.csv - Coded responses from the second student survey.