Let's make
food matter
Did you know?
We can protect our planet by saving food.
At least one-third of all edible food produced across the world is never eaten – enough food to feed 2 billion people. That’s just over a quarter of the world’s population!1
O…M…G
And… Global food waste generates 22 million tonnes of greenhouse gases – that’s four times more than all aeroplanes put together!2
Want to help us?
Save food. Beat the bin. We want your help with kicking off a new trend – saving edible food rather than chucking it in the bin. We are on a mission to ensure all edible food is eaten across the world, starting with each of us in our own homes.
Let’s do this!
Are you on board? Yes – fantastic! You have joined many people who are already trying their best to make this happen.
Your first activity
Track your food footprint
To truly understand why edible food gets chucked away we’d like you to become an investigator. We want you to monitor how much food you and your family throws away at home in one week.
STEP 1
WORK OUT WHAT YOU WASTE
You’ll start by monitoring the food you throw away at home using a Food Diary.
STEP 2
Learn how to save your food
Next, we’ll help you explore how you can make a difference to our planet by learning how to save your food from the bin.
STEP 3
BECOME A FOOD SAVER SUPERHERO
Then during week two, you’ll track how much food you save at home using your new skills.
Everything you need is right here including the food diaries!
Are you ready?
Get set…
What you’ll need
If you want to delve deeper, you can also download the full activity sheet which includes lots of extra stats and facts to sink your teeth into!
2 weeks
Ready for action
Week 1
How are you doing at home?
- 1 Take a look at the asto-nosh-ing food facts and think about how this makes you feel?
- 2 Download and print the Week 1 Food Diary and put it up in your kitchen so it’s easy to complete.
- 3 During the week, record all food that your family throws away – be creative, if you like, and draw pictures in the food diary.
- 4 At the end of the week, tot up how much of each food you and your family have thrown away.
Week 2
Saving your food from the bin at home
- 5 Using your Week 1 Food Diary and any notes you took, take a look at some simple actions that you can take to save your food from the bin this week.
- 6 How about giving the Mini pizza recipe a go to use up your leftover ends of bread crusts? It’s simple and easy! Take a photo and share with your friends #LFHWFoodSaverHero.
- 7 Download and print the Week 2 Food Saver Diary and put it up in your kitchen so it’s easy to complete it.
- 8 During the week, record all food that your family has saved from the bin – once again, be as creative as you like and draw pictures in the food diary.
- 9 At the end of the week, add up how much of each food you and your family have saved from being chucked away.
- 10 Using your Week 1 Food diary, compare how much food you saved this week with the total food you threw away last week. What have you learnt?
- 11 Share your brilliant week saving food with your family and friends – celebrate what you’ve achieved together!
WELL DONE!
You are a true Food Saver Super Hero!
Congratulations for taking the initiative to try something new, learn about a really important topic and take action to help to make our planet a better place for everyone!
Keep nudging your family to take simple actions too and work together to save your food!
Value your food beyond the price tag. Treat it with care – every time.
Love Food Hate Waste
Asto-nosh-ing Food facts!
20 million slices of bread a day
Everyday the equivalent of 20 million slices of bread are thrown away in UK homes. This could have fed breakfast to 10 million people. And, a year’s worth of wasted bread slices, laid end-to-end, could circle the Earth from pole-to-pole 28 times!3
3 million glasses of milk a day
Around 3 million glasses of milk are chucked away in the UK each day. This means that, every year, 36,500 cows are producing milk that is going down the drain.4
£720 a year saved
An average British family can save around £720 a year if they stopped throwing their food in the bin. This could go towards a super fun holiday or 32 family trips to the cinema.5
Easy peasy food saver tips
HEY YOU! FREEZE!
Why not pop half your loaf of bread in the freezer when you get home from the shop. You can then make toast straight from the freezer and never bin a slice again.
Make Toast Not Waste
Chill out
A lot of food is chucked away as its gone off and not been eaten in time. Chill your fridge out and keep it at a lovely cool temperature of 5°C or below.
Chill the fridge
STAY LOOSE BRO
Why not buy loose fruit and veg? Then you can buy only what you'll eat rather than buying a huge bag and end up chucking about half of them in the bin!
Make a mini pizza
Save your bread end crusts from the bin and make mini pizzas from them instead. Create your own recipe using up leftover food and share your creation with friends and family.
Make a mini pizza
Take it further
Don’t stop there
Keep up the great work and make a commitment to carry on with the new simple things you are doing, every day, to stop edible food from being chucked away.
Learn how to value your food beyond the price tag by exploring how it landed on your plate e.g. where was your food produced, how was it produced.
Carry on making a difference
Make a pledge and choose a couple more different things you and your family will try each month to save more food from going in the bin. Write this pledge on a piece of paper and put it on your fridge to remind everyone.
Why not share your pledge on social media using #LFHWFoodSaverPromise - ask your friends to share their food saving pledge too!
Are you a Scout or Beaver?
This activity may contribute towards the achievement of your Environmental Conservation (Scouts) and Global Issues (Beavers) badges - speak to your leader for more information.
Group leaders
How about running this activity as part of your young people's group? Take a look at our Leader's guidance pack for some practical resources you can download and use.
Find out moreSpread the word!
Don’t forget to share the amazing actions you take! By spreading the word and getting friends and family on board, we can beat food waste for good!
#LFHWFoodSaverHero
THANK YOU!
We would like to thank the Scouts for their help with the development of these materials. Materials were developed with the kind financial support from the Postcode Earth Trust.
Sources
1. Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), United Nations 2011, World Vision &UN (2019), 2. World Resources Institute, 3. Love Food Hate Waste survey, 4. Love Food Hate Waste survey, 5. Love Food Hate Waste survey
