Household Food Waste: Quantification, Understanding, and Reduction Campaigns

The United Kingdom is one of the few countries in the world to have a household food waste prevention campaign that has demonstrated an impact on national levels of food waste. Operated by WRAP (the Waste & Resources Action Programme), the Love Food Hate Waste campaign has been running since 2007; it has raised awareness of the issue and supported the public in cutting food waste in their homes. In his talk, Tom will discuss the evidence that was crucial to establishing and maintaining the Love Food Hate Waste Campaign. He will explain how key reports – such as The Food We Waste – were able to bring the issue to the attention of the nation and greatly advance the cause of the campaign. Since 2007 a body of research around household food waste has been developed with a large proportion commissioned or undertaken by WRAP. This has deepened and broadened understanding of the issue of food waste, allowing decisions in the design and deployment of the campaign to be based on strong evidence. This research draws on a range of disciplines, including sociology, psychology, economics, statistics, operational research and waste analysis. Tom will discuss some of the key conclusions that have emerged from this research, how they have been used and how transferable this knowledge may be to other countries, including the USA. He will also outline some of the important knowledge gaps that exist and how these could be filled in the near future