Final report Love Food Champions - WRAP draft FINAL report...Final report Love Food Champions...

Final report

Love Food Champions

Adrienne and Hester

Love Food participants from Yorkshire

Love Food Champions report by WRAP and Women‟s Institute

Date: October 2008

WRAP helps individuals, businesses and

local authorities to reduce waste and

recycle more, making better use of

resources and helping to tackle climate

change.

Written by:

Julia Falcon, Project Manager Love Food Champions Project, WRAP

And Sarah Gray, Research Manager, WRAP

Noelle Virtue, Project manager NFWI

Front cover photography: Adrienne & Hester, Love Food participants from Yorkshire

WRAP and the Women‟s Institute believe the content of this report to be correct as at the date of writing. However, factors such as prices, levels of recycled content and

regulatory requirements are subject to change and users of the report should check with their suppliers to confirm the current situation. In addition, care should be taken

in using any of the cost information provided as it is based upon numerous project-specific assumptions (such as scale, location, tender context, etc.).

The report does not claim to be exhaustive, nor does it claim to cover all relevant products and specifications available on the market. While steps have been taken to

ensure accuracy, WRAP cannot accept responsibility or be held liable to any person for any loss or damage arising out of or in connection with this information being

inaccurate, incomplete or misleading. It is the responsibility of the potential user of a material or product to consult with the supplier or manufacturer and ascertain

whether a particular product will satisfy their specific requirements. The listing or featuring of a particular product or company does not constitute an endorsement by

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material being accurate and not used in a misleading context. The source of the material must be identified and the copyright status acknowledged. This material must

not be used to endorse or used to suggest WRAP‟s endorsement of a commercial product or service. For more detail, please refer to WRAP‟s Terms & Conditions on its

web site: www.wrap.org.uk

Love Food Champions 1

Executive summary

During the autumn of 2007, a partnership was created between WRAP and the National Federation of Women‟s

Institutes, to work together to promote WRAP‟s Love Food Hate Waste Campaign which was about to launch.

Love Food Hate Waste was set up as a UK-wide campaign, to raise awareness of the economic and

environmental impact of food waste, and drive behaviour change through offering easy tips to help people waste

less and enjoy more of the food they were buying. Already armed with extensive consumer research on attitudes

and behaviours towards food waste, and with a website that was highly interactive, the WRAP campaign team

still felt that they could learn more about behaviour change by being in touch with people more directly. They

wanted to engage them in their own communities, as close to their own homes as possible, where the advice

from Love Food Hate Waste could be demonstrated, tried and tested over a meaningful period of time – and then

assessed. They wanted to glean feedback from people on how easy, or hard, it was to make the changes

necessary to start cutting back on food waste, and to feel some personal benefits.

The campaign team were looking for a group of knowledgeable and independent advocates to take on the task of

“Love Food Champions”, who at a grassroots level could promote the aims of Love Food Hate Waste, while also

being able to talk through and demonstrate some of the practical things that people could do in their own homes.

The membership of the Women‟s Institute proved to be ideal candidates for the job. With their natural interest in

home economics and cooking, and with an established network of women across England and Wales, NFWI

offered to take on the project as a pilot, and set about calling on volunteers from the WI membership to come

forward to be “Champions”. The Champions first task was to find non-WI people in their area to join their group,

and agreed a start date for the first Love Food meeting.

The Love Food Champions pilot has shown that within a relatively short period of time (four months), it was

possible for these individuals to make sufficient changes to their habits to reduce their food waste by half.

With the right information and friendly, enthusiastic support, people with differing abilities can quickly take

advantage of advice and change their behaviours for the benefit of themselves, their families, and the

environment. The project was designed as a small scale pilot, but it is hoped that these findings may encourage

others to create similar groups who can help to spread the aims of Love Food Hate Waste at a local level.

This report describes the methodology of the pilot and the results in detail. Food waste produced in the homes

of the people taking part in the project was measured before and after the project, revealing that the 81

households involved had managed to reduce their edible food waste by more than 50%: a significant

achievement. Before the project, the participants threw away on average 4.7 kg/household of food during the

week chosen for measurement. This is close to the National average for food waste in UK households. After the

project, they had reduced this to an average of 2.2 kg of avoidable food waste per household.

By “avoidable” we mean food which could be eaten, like leftovers, or foods which have been opened but not

finished, or food which has gone past its best and been thrown away – not peelings or bones, for example.

People in the groups also began to recognise how much food was wasted and noticed this. For example, at the

start of the project only 37% of the participants felt they wasted food less than three times a week, whereas by

the end of the project, more than half of them (60%) believed they had reduced their waste to this level.

General perceptions were changing too. Nearly all of the participants (92%) said that they put a great deal or a

fair amount of effort into cutting back on the amount of food thrown out, well up from just over half of the

groups (57%) at the beginning of the project.

The report also details other interesting outcomes. Those taking part learned new skills, and commented on the

things they enjoyed most about the project – the social aspect seems to be key, along with the importance of

the individuals leading the groups – the Champions themselves. Examples of some comments follow below:

“The best thing about the project was the social aspect – being with a bunch of like minded women,

looking for the same things: cut costs and cut waste”. Participant in London.

“In terms of the project, it’s phenomenal what you can learn from each other this way. For

example, I discovered that I could freeze things such as lemon slices – great for me as I buy my


lemons in big packs and they were often going off. I just wouldn’t have thought of freezing them!”

Participant in West Sussex

“I liked the fact it showed us different ways of doing things – like having a notebook to hand in the

kitchen so whenever you run out of something, you note it down and just take the whole book to

the supermarket with you: that’s your shopping list.” Participant in London

“For me the biggest thing I can do is watch portion sizes, with foods like pasta for example, I was

serving up too much.” Participant in West Yorkshire

The report also explores the challenges faced by the Champions, in particular that of recruiting people into the

groups and making the groups fun for participants. Initially 20 groups were sought by the pilot project team, but

only half that number completed the project. This exercise shows how difficult it can be to not only find volunteer

leaders who are prepared to set aside personal time and effort to run a group, but it also illustrates the tenacity

required by leaders to actually get people involved in the groups in the first place. This is why we would

recommend that for roll-out to be successful, it may be better to enlist the support of existing community groups,

such as mother & baby groups, health and fitness groups, or environmental groups, rather than attempt to start

afresh.

The report provides information on the topics covered during each of the four monthly meetings - over the four

months of the project - as well as providing anecdotal feedback from those who ran groups (the Champions), and

commentary from the participants. There are further “stories” available to read on www.lovefoodhatewaste.com

from the case studies (participants who have offered to help share their experiences on behalf of the campaign).

A major strength with the way that the Love Food Champions project ran was its flexibility: the Champions used

the Workbook provided as a reference tool only, adapting the material proposed for each meeting to suit their

participant‟s interests and needs.

Finally the report offers a conclusion and recommendations for roll-out. WRAP will be following-up this pilot

project with a simple step-by-step Guide, which will help those wishing to create a group or network based on the

Love Food Champions project, including tips on training and supporting Champions or group leaders, ideas on

forming and maintaining a group, and advice on topics and activities.

We would welcome enquiries from organisations or individuals who wish to find out more about the project, or

would like to obtain a copy of this Guide, once it has been produced.

Julia Falcon

Project manager, Love Food Champions Project, October 2008


Contents

1.0 Introduction and background .................................................................................................... 4 2.0 Methodology ............................................................................................................................... 4

2.1 Training volunteers – the “Champions” .................................................................................. 4 2.2 Love food group recruitment ................................................................................................ 5 2.3 Meetings ............................................................................................................................ 5

2.3.1 Meeting 1: introduction and food shopping ................................................................ 6 2.3.2 Meeting 2: portion sizes and meal planning ............................................................... 7 2.3.3 Meeting 3: food storage and preparation .................................................................. 7 2.3.4 Meeting 4: Leftovers or „rechauffé‟ meals .................................................................. 8 2.3.5 What‟s next? .......................................................................................................... 8 2.3.6 The groups in practice ............................................................................................. 8 2.3.7 Meeting 1 report ..................................................................................................... 9 2.3.8 Meeting 2 report ................................................................................................... 10 2.3.9 Meeting 3 report ................................................................................................... 11 2.3.10 Meeting 4 report ................................................................................................... 11

2.4 Method of evaluation ......................................................................................................... 13 2.4.1 Commitment to reducing food waste ...................................................................... 13

3.0 Results ...................................................................................................................................... 13 3.1 Attitudinal changes ............................................................................................................ 13 3.2 Behavioural changes .......................................................................................................... 14 3.3 Shopping habits and routine ............................................................................................... 16

4.0 Evaluation of comments and anecdotal information ............................................................... 18 4.1 Expectations ..................................................................................................................... 18 4.2 New skills and confidence building ...................................................................................... 19 4.3 Healthy eating .................................................................................................................. 19 4.4 Cost savings ..................................................................................................................... 19 4.5 Additional comments ......................................................................................................... 20

5.0 Conclusions ............................................................................................................................... 20 6.0 Recommendations .................................................................................................................... 21

6.1 Project Structure & meetings .............................................................................................. 21 6.2 Materials .......................................................................................................................... 21 6.3 Recruiting groups & Champions .......................................................................................... 21 6.4 Communicating the messages to a wider audience ............................................................... 21

7.0 Opportunity for Roll-out: .......................................................................................................... 22 8.0 Acknowledgements .................................................................................................................. 22 Appendix A Material from training day ................................................................................................... 24 Appendix B Press releases from project launch ................................................................................... 25 Appendix C Participant evaluation forms: kitchen caddy forms ......................................................... 27 Appendix D Participant evaluation forms: meetings ........................................................................... 30 Appendix E Questionnaires ................................................................................................................... 36


1.0 Introduction and background Research by WRAP has shown that consumers in the UK throw away the equivalent of one in every three bagfuls

of food shopping– or a third of the food they buy each year, and most of this could have been eaten.

In autumn 2007, the Waste & Resources Action Programme (WRAP) launched the Love Food Hate Waste

campaign which aims to help consumers cut back on the food they waste through raising awareness and by

offering easy-to-action advice.

WRAP identified the need for advocates at a local level, who could offer support and practical help to families and

individuals who wished to cut back on food waste. It was also felt that important feedback could be gained from

a project where the advice given through the Love Food Hate Waste campaign could be gauged “on the ground”

in people‟s kitchens. The Women‟s Institute supported the aims of Love Food Hate Waste, and as obvious food

lovers, with a substantial community network across England and Wales, WRAP commissioned this pilot project

for WI members to run. The objectives of the Love Food Champions pilot were to provide feedback and insights

for the Campaign, and to test whether there was potential for broader roll-out for this method of passing on

knowledge and practical skills.

It was the National Federation of Women‟s Institutes (NFWI) and WRAP‟s hope that the Love Food Champions

project would help individuals and families become more confident and enthusiastic about managing their food,

waste less and save on their shopping bills. This report has been produced by organisations, and briefly outlines

the project outcomes, insights and recommendations for the future.

2.0 Methodology The Love Food Champions project aimed to engage with households in England to change their behaviour

towards food waste by offering them practical advice and guidance from WI members, as well as exchanging

ideas within a group of like-minded non-WI individuals from the same area.

Each Love Food Group, consisting of a Love Food Champion and other individuals in their community, met once a

month for four months to discuss a range of topics to do with reducing food waste such as shopping, storage,

portion sizing, meal planning and how to use leftovers.

The project was set up to provide the Love Food Champions with a range of materials, resources and guidance

notes to help them set their own agenda for their meetings. The project involved group discussions and

encouraged group members to set goals for themselves to reduce their household‟s food waste. A period of four

months was considered appropriate by the project team, in order to provide enough time to cover all the

material, and most importantly, to allow the participants enough time to practice their new habits in the home,

and get an idea of what worked for them in reducing food waste.

2.1 Training volunteers – the “Champions” The pilot project initially set out to recruit 20 Love Food Champions from the WI membership through

advertisements in WI Life which is distributed to each member of the WI. Although there was interest from 25

WI members initially, a number dropped out in the run up to the training days in January 2008 due to the

workload involved and prior commitments.

In January, two training days were held for the Love Food Champions to gain the knowledge and skills necessary

to recruit and facilitate Love Food Groups in their communities. The first training day was attended by 10 WI

members and an external facilitator. The second training day was attended by a further five WI members, a

member of WRAP‟s Love Food Hate Waste team and an external facilitator. This second training day was held on

a Saturday to enable those individuals working full time to attend.

The training days covered what was expected of the Love Food Champions in detail, ideas for activities to use

while running a Love Food Group meeting and how to recruit individuals to their Love Food Group. Background

on the need for the project – in terms of the cost and environmental impact of food waste - was provided. The

training also covered different ways to explore topics in groups, making sure all the voices are heard and

stimulating techniques which could be used to get groups working well.


WI Champions who attended the training days found the public speaking exercises useful, e.g. how to “pitch” to

strangers when recruiting groups. Also helpful were the tips on where to find recruits and which existing

community groups might be receptive to this type of initiative. In respect of facilitating a group over a period of

time, the Champions were offered advice on keeping participants‟ interest up, exercises to help demonstrate the

topics for discussion, and ideas about ice breakers, all of which were considered beneficial.

The training included an action planning sheet to help Champions prepare for recruiting and running the groups.

These sheets encouraged them to think about their plans including:

Recruitment methods to suit their area and themselves as individuals.

How and where to bring the group together in their local area.

Timing of recruitment & meetings.

Planning and scheduling the groups.

Finding a suitable venue.

Support that would be needed to organise the meetings.

Ensuring that project evaluation (paperwork) was conducted by participants.

How to celebrate the group‟s efforts on completion of the project.

Overall there was some difficulty in finding enough WI volunteers to be Champions. At inception, the pilot project team (NFWI and WRAP) sought to engage 20 Champions across the Country. On completion 10 groups reported.

There were a number of reasons for this, however, those that took part felt this was because the setting up of

the groups and paperwork required to support the project was perceived as onerous. Champions were asked to take on a significant amount of work in order to run a group and report back to the project team, and a level of

personal commitment in order to make the groups work was certainly required.

In some ways, because this was a pilot, the role of “Champion” involved a project management aspect which

may not normally be necessary for a similar community-based initiative. Those that did take on the role, though,

found it ultimately rewarding and received many positive comments from participants in the groups.

2.2 Love food group recruitment Love Food Champions set out to recruit between six to eight individuals within their community who were not

members of the Women‟s Institute, to form a Love Food Group. Part of the concept was that group participants

would take what they had learned at the meetings and use these new practices and knowledge within their own

homes, and share skills with their friends and colleagues.

The Love Food Champions targeted, in particular, women and men from households with school age children and

young working people as these were two groups identified by WRAP to be high food wasters. To help with the

recruitment of interested individuals the NFWI and WRAP produced press releases for each individual Champion

that was sent to local and regional media as well as a generic press release that was sent to national media at

the launch of the project. See Appendix B for copies of the press releases.

Some of the groups were set up almost immediately. This was due to the fact that Champions were aware for

several months that they would be taking part in this project and had already started approaching individuals to

join their groups. Others struggled with recruiting individuals to their groups and thus had smaller numbers of

participants. The majority of participants joined a Love Food Group because they had heard about it through

word of mouth. Two groups were also formed using existing networks, such as baby yoga.

Group meetings were held over a period of 4 months except for the Kent Love Food Group which was held over 4

weeks. In this instance when the Champion approached the Spring House Family Centre it was felt that the

project would be more successful if meetings were held more frequently.

2.3 Meetings Each Love Food Group, consisting of a Love Food Champion (leader) representing the WI, and other individuals

in their community, met once a month for four months to discuss a range of topics which had been identified as

key behaviours affecting the amount of food waste produced in the home, such as shopping; food storage and

preservation; portion sizing; meal planning and how to use up leftovers.


After a period of planning and preparation by the project team, The Love Food Groups were provided with a

range of materials, resources and guidance notes to help the Champions run their group meetings. The project

involved group discussions and encouraged group participants to set goals for themselves to make the most of

their food, and the amount they waste.

A Workbook was developed and provided by NFWI to the Love Food Champions to use and distribute amongst

their groups. (A downloadable copy of this document is available online at www.lovefoodhatewaste.com). The

book contained material to be covered at each meeting and offered hints and tips, plus useful information such

as an explanation of the date labels on packaging, a selection of recipes to accompany the meetings, and links to

websites which participants could use to help build on the meetings. Groups were also invited to complete an

activity at each meeting, related to the topic being discussed. The Love Food Champions adapted the activities

and content of the meetings to fit with each group and what their particular participants wanted to do.

Feedback from each of the meetings was collected. Apart from comments on the different activities that were

undertaken, a review of the feedback indicates that the subject matter, materials, activities, group leaders and

length and venue of meetings were all very well received, gaining high satisfaction ratings. This is most marked

in relation to the Champions themselves. Guidance, hints and tips that were provided with the materials were

viewed positively and recipe ideas were also very popular with many calling for more recipes to help them carry

on their newly learned habits at home.

The meetings were very informal and that seems to have been something that participants particularly enjoyed

about them. There was also a great deal of enthusiasm for swapping recipe ideas, and the opportunities that

meetings provided to share and learn from other members of the group.

2.3.1 Meeting 1: introduction and food shopping The Workbook content for this meeting offered ice-breakers and some suggestions to start discussion on food

shopping such as time spent shopping and questions to encourage participants to think about how to plan for

shopping by preparing a list and checking cupboards before going. A set of cupboard staples to make it easier to

always have the basics to be able to put a meal together were suggested. (See Figure 1).

The first meetings were held between 1 February and 31 March 2008. The dates varied depending on how

quickly the Love Food Champions recruited their groups and when the group participants were available to meet.

Eleven Love Food Groups held the first meeting in the following counties:

Cambridgeshire;

Gloucestershire;

East London;

Northamptonshire (two separate groups);

North Yorkshire West;

Oxfordshire;

Suffolk;

West Kent;

West Sussex; and

Wiltshire.

After the first meeting one of the Northamptonshire Love Food Groups dropped out. All remaining 10 Love Food

Groups completed the project.


Figure 1: Suggestions for food cupboard essentials

2.3.2 Meeting 2: portion sizes and meal planning At this meeting, ways of measuring the right amount of ingredients to prepare were discussed such as using

mugs to measure out rice before cooking. Meal planning suggestions were offered by the workbook and

discussion encouraged thinking about how participants could plan ahead and use up ingredients before they go

off. Weekly meal plans were suggested for families, whereas single person households and individuals with less

predictable meal patterns were thought to be better off shopping more often buying just what is needed for each

meal. Comments from participants at the close of one particular meeting showed that they were already

beginning to notice reductions in their food shopping bill as a result of participating in the first meeting.

The second meetings were held between 29 February and 22 April.

2.3.3 Meeting 3: food storage and preparation The third meeting covered different methods of storing foods, offering practical advice and ideas on how to make

food last longer and keeping and using up leftovers to eat at another meal. Figure 2 shows an illustration of the

activity set for that meeting.

The third meetings were held between 28 March and 21 May.


Figure 2: Activity set for meeting three

2.3.4 Meeting 4: Leftovers or „rechauffé‟ meals The final meeting dealt with leftovers: why do people view them as „dull or second rate food‟, what might make

them more appealing to people, and favourite leftover dishes. A recipe for pizza with the addition of leftover

cheese and cooked vegetables gave the groups something to cook and enjoy eating.

The final meetings were held between 2 May and 18 June.

2.3.5 What‟s next? The Workbook offered one further section, thinking about how participants might take forward what they had

learned in the Love Food Groups, how they might put it into practice and share it with friends and colleagues.

Participants were invited to lead their own Love Food Groups. Food waste disposal methods such as using a

wormery or bokashi unit or taking up home composting were also described at the back of the workbook.

2.3.6 The groups in practice Although there were activities and discussion topics included in the Workbook, several of the Love Food

Champions made up their own activities to engage participants on a more practical level. For instance, the group

in Suffolk had participants bring leftovers and extras from their cupboards and fridges to each meeting and

worked as a group to figure out what meals they could create from them. They then made a meal and discussed

the topic of the meeting while enjoying the meal they had prepared together.


The group in London did something similar for their last meeting, where the Love Food Champion split the group

into three teams: egg, pasta and pizza. Each group had 30 minutes to prepare a meal. When the task was

complete they had a meal of three separate dishes to enjoy.

Several Love Food Champions had guest participants and speakers to their meetings. These included

representatives from local councils‟ waste departments who attended meetings with two different groups. This

enabled the visitors to find out about the project and also to explain and answer questions about what currently

happens to their household food waste. Other groups held meetings at a local pub, restaurant or café with the

owner speaking to the group about their business and ways that they reduce food waste on a day-to-day basis.

Overall it was felt that the flexible approach taken, where different groups met in different settings and dealt with

the set topics in a variety of ways, was a core strength in delivering the objectives of the project. It meant that

the Champions were able to adapt their activities and discussion to the needs and interests of the participants,

tailoring the meetings to them, so that the benefits from taking part were greater.

2.3.7 Meeting 1 report

Figure 3: Satisfaction levels following meeting 1

The chart above illustrates responses from participants when asked to rate different aspects of the meeting. Only

„very good‟ responses are shown. Almost all rated each aspect as „very good‟ or „fairly good‟ indicating a high

level of satisfaction with each aspect. All respondents rated their Love Food Champions as „very good‟.

Many of the groups had one or two participants absent from the first meeting due to unforeseen circumstances.

Some of these individuals met with the Love Food Champion at a later date to learn about the project and cover

the missed material while others started with the second meeting.

Participants were asked what they enjoyed most about the first meeting. Comments related to meeting new

people, swapping ideas and finding that other people shared the same issues.

„Meeting new people and swapping ideas‟

„Learning from others what their habits are regarding shopping and food waste‟

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

Subject Materials Activities Champion Length of meeting Venue

% Very

good




The above chart again indicates levels of satisfaction with different aspects of the second meeting, with only

„very good‟ responses being included. Levels of satisfaction were lower following the second meeting for some

aspects, notably activities and materials. Almost all of the responses, however, were „fairly good‟ or „very good‟,

including for these two aspects. This indicates that satisfaction levels remained high. Once again all respondents

rated the champions as „very good‟.

From comments following the meeting it seems that it was the practical aspects of the meeting that participants

enjoyed the most. When asked what they had preferred doing, responses related to swapping ideas with a

practical slant.

„Ideas on how to single portion freeze food and measure dried foods without using measuring spoons.

„Shared ideas and food items to cook creatively. Generated ideas for home recipes.‟

„Quiz about portion sizes and discussion about composting.‟

Several meeting reports commented that the portion-sizing guide that they had been provided with had been

particularly helpful. It seemed again that spontaneous discussion and activities developed on the initiative of the

champions worked very well for the groups, perhaps because they could be tailored to each groups‟ preferences

and interests. In Oxfordshire, someone from the council attended the meeting and gave a half hour talk and

discussion on recycling and the new food waste collection scheme.

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

Subject –

portion sizes

Subject - meal

planning

Materials Activities Champion Length of meeting Venue

%

Very

good



The chart below shows levels of satisfaction following the third meeting. Ratings for activities and materials

appear to have recovered. The champions maintain the highest satisfaction levels with 100% of respondents

rating them as „very good‟.


Following this meeting one of the champions commented that this had been the best session so far, mainly

because of the familiarity of the participants and the fact that they were able to go deeper in to the subject by

this stage (Cambridge group). In Gloucestershire, the champion commented that „nearly everyone believes that

they have reduced their waste and are a lot more organised with their shopping‟. In Yorkshire, where this session

was held in a local restaurant, the champion also commented that the Love Food website had proved very useful

for providing extra tips and ideas for the group.

2.3.10 Meeting 4 report Figure 6 shows levels of satisfaction among participants following the fourth meeting.

Comments from participants about things they had especially enjoyed included:

„Sharing ideas on leftovers - wonderful simple dishes that taste delicious‟.

„As we have become a group, a camaraderie is developing and a willingness to share more ideas as we gain in

confidence‟.

Various topics had proved popular during this and other meetings. Champions expressed their groups‟

enthusiasm for learning about making chutneys and jams, bottling and preserving. Recipes for leftovers went

down well and one or two suggested that this part of the project might have been better tackled earlier on.

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

Subject Materials Activities Champion Length Venue

% Very

good


The following remarks were taken from the champions‟ reports.

„The group‟s favourite leftover meal was to make fishcakes with mashed potato, tuna, spring onion, chilli and

coriander. Also pate made from tinned fish, cream cheese, lemon and pepper‟.

„Everyone was very keen that this wasn‟t the end of the campaign. We discussed talking to our children‟s primary

school and possibly running workshops with the children. Everyone was very keen to hear the results of the

project and all agreed it has been extremely worthwhile‟.


0

20

40

60

80

100

120

Subject Materials Activities Champion Length Venue

% Very

good


2.4 Method of evaluation The Love Food Champions project was evaluated using a combination of anecdotal feedback; pre and post

project surveys to assess attitudes to food waste before and after taking part in the Love Food Groups; and

behavioural changes tracked through recording the quantity of avoidable food waste produced before and after

the project. By “avoidable” we mean food which could be eaten, such as plate scrapings, leftovers or foods which

are past their best and consequently get thrown out, rather than peelings, cores, tea bags or bones, which would

not usually be eaten.

This last measurement was conducted by asking participants to visually estimate their food waste for the first

seven days and the last seven days of the project, in terms of the proportion of a kitchen caddy that they filled

each day with discarded food. A volume to weight conversion was then applied to the results, so that the project

team could report the impact of the pilot in weight terms.

Other outcomes of the pilot are covered in the next section, such as the social benefits of the groups, and the

sharing of ideas and knowledge which have encouraged participants to change their behaviours.

2.4.1 Commitment to reducing food waste In order to assess the group participants‟ attitudes and behaviours towards the issue of food waste, WRAP uses a

metric similar to that used by their Recycle Now Campaign, to enable the Food Champions project to determine

the extent to which people changed, over the course of the project. Questionnaires were filled in at the

beginning and end of the project, and the results follow. The metric which indicates a Committed Food Waste

Reducer (CFWR) consists of answers to these three questions:

Thinking about the different types of food waste we have just discussed, how much uneaten food – overall –

would you say you throw away in general?

Thinking about when you have to throw uneaten food items away, to what extent, if at all, does it bother

you?

How much effort do you and your household go to in order to minimise the amount of uneaten food you

throw away?

A person who is defined as being a CFWR will state that they throw away hardly any or no uneaten food, be

bothered a great deal about throwing way uneaten food and will put a great deal of effort into minimising the

amount of uneaten food they throw away.

3.0 Results The groups produced impressive results. Participants managed to reduce their avoidable food waste by more

than half by the end of the four month project. See Figure 7, below.

In addition, by the end of the project when participants were asked how often they would say edible food is

thrown away during mealtimes in their homes, 62% believed they wasted food less than once every two days

compared to 37% at the start of the project. 3.1 Attitudinal changes Participants‟ attitudes to food waste changed significantly over the course of the project. By the end of the

project 96% responded that it bothered them a great deal or a fair amount to throw uneaten food items away,

up from 73% at the beginning of the project (see Table 1).


Before After

N Percent N Percent

A great deal 30 37.0 36 69.2

A fair amount 29 35.8 14 27.0

A little 16 19.8 2 3.8

Not very much 5 6.2 0 0.0

Not at all 1 1.2 0 0.0

Total 81 100.0 52 100.0

Table 1: “Thinking about when you have to throw uneaten food items away, to what extent, if at all, does it

bother you?”

92% of participants responded that they put a great deal or a fair amount of effort into minimising the amount of

uneaten food they throw away, up from 57% at the beginning of the project (see Table 2).

Before After

N Percent N Percent

A great deal 9 11.1 21 40.4

A fair amount 37 45.7 27 51.9

A little 19 23.4 4 7.7

Not very much 14 17.3 0 0.0

None at all 2 2.5 0 0.0

Total 81 100.0 52 100.0

Table 2: “How much effort do you and your household go to in order to minimise the amount of uneaten food

you throw away?”

3.2 Behavioural changes At the start of the project participants measured the amount of avoidable food waste produced in their own

homes, and on average they were wasting more food per household than the national average (4.7kg/household

per week compared to a UK average of 2.8kg/household per week).

During the course of the four month project, they managed to more than halve this waste, throwing away by the

end an estimated 2.2kg/household in the week chosen for measurement – meaning that they were producing

less waste than the national average, as shown in Figure 7 below. The weights have been converted from litres

based on the assumption that the density of food waste is 0.55kg/litre and taken from the kitchen caddy results

of participants.


Figure 7: Quantities of food waste disposed of: kg per household per week

In addition, by the end of the project when participants were asked how often they would say edible food is

thrown away during mealtimes in their homes 62% believed they wasted food less than once every two days

compared to 37% at the start of the project (Table 3) with this being the least frequent of the possible responses

that could be given.

Before After

N Percent N Percent

Every meal 5 7.7 2 4.8

More than once a day 11 16.9 3 7.1

Once a day 17 26.2 7 16.7

Once every two days 8 12.3 4 9.5

Less than once every two

days 24 36.9 26 61.9

Total 65 100.0 42 100.0

Table 3: “How often would you say edible food is thrown away during mealtimes in your home?”

Before the project, 5% of respondents to the initial questionnaire were committed food waste reducers. By the

end of the project this had increased to 29% of respondents to the final questionnaire. This represents an

increase of 24% points between the start and end of the project and makes sense in the context of the

quantities of avoidable food waste being thrown away, both before and after the project. Figure 8, below shows

a comparison of committed food waste reducers who took part in the meetings, before and after the project,

compared with the national average in March 2008.

0

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

3

3.5

4

4.5

5

National average Before LFC After LFC

kg/hh/week


Figure 8: Committed food waste reducers

3.3 Shopping habits and routine Respondents were asked about their normal shopping routine and habits involving food, rating themselves on

different aspects. Possible responses ranged from „very good‟ to „definitely not one of my strengths‟ on a five-

point scale, with „very good‟ scoring five, and „definitely not one of my strengths‟ scoring one.

Respondents were asked how often they throw away surplus food that could have been used either as the same

meal on a different day or as ingredients for a new meal. By the end of the project, there were no longer any

participants who responded „all the time‟ (compared to 6% who gave this response before the project), as shown

in Table 4, below.

Before After

N Percent N Percent

All the time 4 6.1 0 0.0

Most of the time 6 9.1 3 7.1

Sometimes 29 43.9 16 38.1

Hardly ever 27 40.9 18 42.9

Total 66 100.0 42 100.0

Table 4: “How often do you throw away surplus food that could have been used either as the same meal on a

different day or as ingredients for a new meal?”

Figure 9, below, shows the percentage of respondents before and after the project who rated themselves „fairly

good‟ or „very good‟ on each aspect. There is a significant improvement in how respondents rated their abilities

before and after the programme on every aspect, but particular swings can be noted for tasks such as using

leftovers, understanding food storage and meal planning.

Overall this chart gives a very good indication of the self perceptions of the participants before and after the Love

Food Champions project, and demonstrates that taking part in this project has made a clear and positive impact

on all behaviours associated with reducing food waste, and engendering confidence with food.

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

National average Before LFC After LFC

Percentage


Figure 9: “Thinking about your normal food shopping routine and habits involving food, how would you rate

yourself on the following?”

Table 5 looks at the proportion of participants who stated that each skill was „definitely not one of their strengths‟

before and after the project. Across every habit and aspect of respondents‟ food shopping routines there was a

decrease in the proportion who felt that each was not their strength by the end of the project.

Before After

N %* N %*

Pre-shopping planning 6 9.1 3 7.1

Discipline in the store 10 15.2 0 0.0

Meal planning 5 7.6 1 2.4

Portioning 9 13.6 1 2.4

Fridge/cupboard organisation

at home 8 12.1 2 4.8

Extending the life of food by

proper storage 4 6.1 2 4.8

Making best use of storage

tools 5 7.6 2 4.8

Cooking skills 6 9.1 1 2.4

Making best use of leftovers 7 10.6 1 2.4

*Percentages do not sum to 100% as this was a multiple response question

Table 5: „Definitely not one of my strengths‟ in terms of food shopping routine and habits involving food

After the project, respondents were asked to score themselves (on a scale of 0 to 10 with 10 being high and 0

low) on their strategies to reduce food waste. Respondents scored themselves most highly on food shopping and

least on food storage and preservation, and made the most improvement on food shopping and meal planning.

0.0%

10.0%

20.0%

30.0%

40.0%

50.0%

60.0%

70.0%

80.0%

90.0%

Pre-planning In the store Meal planning Portioning Fridge

/cupboard

Storage Containers Cooking Leftovers

AFTER BEFORE


Figure 10 shows the percentage of respondents who scored themselves 8 or more out of 10 on each of the four

different aspects. Food shopping appears to be the area where participants had the greatest confidence in their

ability to reduce food waste. On meal planning and storage there were fewer rating themselves highly: less than

70% rating themselves 8 or more out of 10 on these aspects.

Figure 10: “On a scale from 0-10 with 0 being a strategy that leads to a lot of food waste and 10 being the

optimum strategy, what score would you give yourself now that the project is completed?”

4.0 Evaluation of comments and anecdotal information

4.1 Expectations Participants were asked before taking part in the project what they expected to get out of it. Expectations were

varied and included some social benefits such as better family mealtimes, meeting people and making friends as

well as hopes of improving knowledge and saving on food bills. Most often cited was waste reduction – a large

number of participants hoped to be better prepared to throw away less food at the end of the project than at the

beginning.

“Be better at not chucking away food and shopping more sensibly! Starting to compost food waste”

“To discover more ways to use random ingredients you find in the fridge”

0.0%

10.0%

20.0%

30.0%

40.0%

50.0%

60.0%

70.0%

80.0%

90.0%

Food shopping Portion sizing Meal planning Storage/preservation


“Learn about making the best use of leftovers (and strange vegetables from organic boxes), improve planning of

meals especially focusing on children‟s menus”

“Meal planning skills – cooking and storing fresh food from scratch, organisation in buying skills”

4.2 New skills and confidence building By the end of the project, participants felt that they had gained valuable skills and confidence not only in being

able to reduce food waste but also to prepare meals from basic ingredients and some even started growing their

own fruits and vegetables.

“I know much more about storing foods to keep them better, and what you can and can‟t freeze”. “I think a bit

more about leftovers now and know what to do when I have a load of apples or whatever.”

“I‟ve become more interested in growing my own food, like tomatoes and courgettes, and I‟m more relaxed

about shopping – I don‟t buy lots of extras.”

4.3 Healthy eating Although only one of the participants mentioned healthly eating as an expectation at the start of the project,

several participants commented on how the project had actually helped them achieve a healthier diet by the end

of it.

“I‟ve cut down on processed foods, and I think we eat more fresh foods now that we plan better. I‟d say we have

a more varied diet because I think about it more.”

“Learning about portions helped me because I used to serve up big portions, and now I think we are healthier

because of not over eating.”

4.4 Cost savings In addition to seeing reductions in their food waste, participants also noticed a reduction in the amount they

spent on food.


“I‟d say there is definitely a benefit in terms of budgeting. I used to pop out and spend money on bits and

pieces all the time, but now I‟m sure we‟ve cut down on what we spend – we probably spend £60/70 a week

whereas before it would have been around £100.”

“The main thing is that I keep more of an eye on costs now.”

4.5 Additional comments Participants were asked what they had enjoyed best about the meetings. The responses which came across most

strongly were recipe ideas, but the social aspect was also important.

“It was nice to get ideas from other people and to focus on reducing waste, it‟s hard putting it into practice, as

it‟s easy to slip into old habits”

When asked what could have been improved, there was some feeling that the meetings could have been reduced

in number, perhaps making each session longer so that the same amount of information could be

accommodated. There was a feeling that there could have been less paperwork, while a few participants would

have liked more recipes for leftovers.

Comments also highlighted the importance of the Champions themselves and what they brought to the group.

Particular benefits included the well-prepared sessions and materials, good “people skills”, and a pragmatic

approach to the subject matter. Several participants said that they would like to see the scheme extended.

“Hope that the project can reach a wider audience”

More detailed views and comments from the participants are featured on the campaign website:

www.lovefoodhatewaste.com

5.0 Conclusions The results obtained by this pilot project are extremely encouraging and demonstrate that a small group

exchanging ideas, sharing knowledge and experiences can rapidly start to change people‟s habits and attitudes

towards food.

The project has served to provide a number “case studies” in the form of willing project participants who have

been approached by WRAP to take part in the promotion of the Love Food Hate Waste Campaign, through

showing others what they‟ve done, and how they now manage their food better. The case study views and

comments (featured on lovefoodhatewaste.com), demonstrate considerable variety between individuals,

regarding both their motivations, and what activities worked for them. This reinforces WRAP‟s stance that Love

Food Hate Waste cannot be a one-size-fits all campaign: messages and advice have to be specific and varied to

be appealing to a very mixed National audience. For example, some people are willing to try new recipes, others

will choose to be more disciplined when shopping in order to waste less food.

The project also exposed areas of confusion regarding the broader issue of food waste, which NFWI, WRAP and

other bodies may be able to address more effectively through communicating with stakeholders and the media.

For example, many of the groups discussed and highlighted the following:

The role of grocery retailers and brands, and the apparent lack of in-store advice or recipes to assist their

customers cut back on waste & enjoy their food more. .

The management of food promotions (e.g. Buy One Get One Free/ multibuys) which are perceived to

encourage consumer waste.

A desire for a better understanding of when and how unavoidable food waste can be collected and processed

to produce energy or other benefits, in a sustainable and environment-friendly way.

More information on packaging and food waste: the importance of both.

A need to hear more about Local Authority food waste collections, and why some areas do or don‟t have

collections.

Whether there is a role for schools and education authorities to play in the reduction of food waste in the

home: e.g. children could be taught more about food, where it comes from, and how we use it at home.


6.0 Recommendations

6.1 Project Structure & meetings Setting dates at the beginning of the project and sticking to them worked well as it enabled participants to know

in advance when they were meeting and arrange for childcare or otherwise plan around scheduled dates.

It was suggested that it would have been better to start the project with the topic of leftovers rather than ending

with it, as it was a recurring discussion topic throughout the project and could have made a useful introduction to

the overall messages. The flexibility with which the Champions approached their meetings and adapted activities

to their groups‟ particular needs and interests, was felt to be a strength in the delivery of this project.

Participants across the groups varied quite widely in what they sought to get from project. It is recommended

that this flexibility be maintained going forward.

Many of the Love Food Champions noted that participants found the amount of paperwork for the project quite

discouraging. However since this was a pilot, monitoring and evaluation of the project was required by WRAP:

going forward the focus is much more likely to be on ensuring that delivery objectives are met, i.e. that groups

manage to help people change their behaviours towards wasting food in the home, rather than monitoring the

project .

6.2 Materials There was very positive feedback about the Workbook used for the project and the Love Food Champions found

it to be a helpful guide during the meetings. However, many participants said that they would have liked even

more tips and recipes to be included in the Workbook.

A “Kitchen Journal” was also produced, and it was widely felt that this was of less use to the participants, other

than the guidance tables at the back of the journal which could be easily incorporated into the workbook for

future projects.

6.3 Recruiting groups & Champions Given that recruitment was one of the biggest challenges for this project, it has been suggested by Champions

and the project team, that future recruitment is focused on existing community or social groups. For example,

National Childbirth Trust; sports teams and their supporters; fitness or slimming groups; friends or family of a

Champion or group leader; workplace departmental or social groups; book clubs; and Mums‟ or School-based

parents societies or associations. This approach would mean that recruitment taps groups that already work well

together, and are then introduced to this as a new activity to take up.

A risk with recruiting through existing groups could be that the benefits of participating may not be felt by

individuals for some while, and in the meantime interest may wane, with the existing group reverting back to

activities more familiar to them, outside the topic of food waste. The enthusiasm of the “Champion” will be very

important in this context.

It would appear that volunteer leaders or “Champions” should genuinely enjoy food, and be comfortable in a

sociable, mixed group, particularly since the topic of food waste can be sensitive to introduce. It appears from

these pilot groups that the inclusion of fun, practical activities and cooking served to keep the groups motivated.

It also seems that over time the groups became more “tight knit” together, with friendships forming, which may

also help to embed new beneficial habits within the participants‟ lives.

WRAP would like to see more men involved in groups such as these in the future. The project set out to recruit

both men and women, but only managed to involve female participants: perhaps reflecting the fact that generally

women still hold a more prominent role in food purchasing and management, particularly in families, than men.

Perhaps work-based groups might draw a more mixed set of participants?

6.4 Communicating the messages to a wider audience Although only 10 WI groups completed in this pilot project, several of the participating WI federations promoted

the project at community events and shows, and many that were unable to participate also promoted the goals

of the project and ways of reducing food waste to their wider communities.


Many of the project participants noted at the end of the project that they had discussed the meetings and hints

and tips with their family, friends, work colleagues and neighbours.

The discussions and learning from this project will continue to reach those who were not directly involved, for

example one particular group is keen to discuss some of the issues at their children‟s primary school, possibly

running workshops with the children. The WRAP Love Food Hate Waste campaign will continue to promote the

project and refer to the comments of the participants who have found the experience beneficial.

7.0 Opportunity for Roll-out: NFWI and WRAP believe that the real strength of the Love Food Champions project is its ability to get seemingly

disinterested people enthused and engaged in the subject of reducing food waste, and they are confident that

the national consumer-facing campaign (Love Food Hate Waste) can be complemented and substantially

enhanced through the deployment of face to face practical advice in a domestic setting.

Many of the participants in the groups didn‟t realise how much or what types of food they wasted until they

started to discuss the issues in detail with others. Talking through practical actions enabled the participants to

feel empowered and ready to take action to cut back on their own household‟s waste and make the most of their

individual food budgets.

The Love Food Champions pilot has shown the potential for this kind of community engagement, and has proved

highly successful in reaching its aims. However, a project such as this requires considerable commitment on the

part of the local champion or group leader, and consideration should be given to the likely requirement for

supportive management of the project by organisations who wish to take it up. We appreciate that this may

seem daunting and propose to develop and publish a simple “How to” guide which will provide step by step

advice on setting up similar groups.

It is hoped that the findings from this project can be taken up and used by a variety of organisations, in addition

to WRAP and NFWI, including other community groups, and perhaps Government departments or Local

Authorities with a particular interest in waste, education and parenting/ families. It is suggested that these types

of organisations may already be working with people that might most benefit from face to face group interaction,

such as lower income families and younger people who would like to improve their skills.

There is also considerable scope to enhance the interest in food management and food waste reduction through

existing voluntary or social groups, for example. Established networks such as these may offer the best

opportunities for recruiting new groups, given the difficulties which some of the champions experienced.

In addition it is suggested that large corporate organisations, and perhaps companies based within the food

supply and retailing sector could make use of the findings and insights presented here, both in terms of their

customer-facing contribution to reducing food waste in UK homes, and also through engaging their own staff

directly through similar voluntary groups.

NFWI and WRAP would recommend that this project be rolled-out to create a greater and longer term impact in

support of the Love Food Hate Waste campaign, and to cut down on the quantity of good food thrown out from

UK homes across the Country.

8.0 Acknowledgements The NFWI would like to thank the Love Food Champions for taking the time to recruit individuals for their Love

Food Groups, sharing their love of food and skills with others which made this project such a success. Thank you

to all those individuals and households that participated in the project, for taking part in this pilot and lending

your feedback in ways to improve it for others.


WRAP thanks the NFWI and its members for their commitment and enthusiasm in setting up and running this

innovative pilot, and those in the project team who worked hard with WRAP to achieve the objectives of the

project, in particular Noelle Virtue for introducing the project to the members, and helping to set up the structure

and materials.


Appendix A Material from training

day

Action Planning Sheet

Name ……………………………….

RECRUITMENT What recruitment methods will you use to get your group together? When will you begin to recruit your team? MEETINGS When do you aim to hold the first introductory meeting with your Love Food Group? Where will you hold your group meetings? Are refreshments available? What will be the best time/dates for your group meetings? What support will you need to organise these group meetings? PROJECT EVALUATION What do you think will be the best ways to ensure that group participants remember to use their kitchen caddy and complete the collection forms to log their food waste at the beginning and end of the project? PERSONAL SUPPORT THAT YOU CAN OFFER The following are ideas only, circle ones that you are happy with and add any others that you can think of:

Being the main point of contact for group members

Noting actions from meetings for review at following meetings

Researching support via your local council or other organisations working to support waste initiatives in your area

Collating participants feedback from the project Other ideas for group support IN THE FUTURE What do you think will be a good way to celebrate your group‟s efforts when you have completed the project?

Thank you for your time and good luck!


Appendix B Press releases from project

launch

National „consumer‟ press release

National Federation of Women‟s Institutes

News Release

Ref: 03C/08

Issued: 29 January 2008

Love Food Champions launched

The National Federation of Women‟s Institutes (NFWI) has announced the launch of its Love Food Champions

project as part of a campaign to reduce food waste.

These Champions will set up Love Food Groups around the country in support of WRAP‟s (Waste & Resources

Action Programme) „Love Food, Hate Waste‟ campaign, which aims to help reduce food waste. The Champions

will work with people across England and Wales to share their experiences and suggest ways of reducing and

preventing food waste. According to WRAP one shopping bag full of food gets thrown away for every three

bought.

Through the Love Food Groups the NFWI wants food to be used more carefully. This will save both time and

money, while also helping to reduce our impact on the environment. We also want to increase awareness of the

issue so that we are all making the most of the food we buy.

“The WI is passionate about food, preventing waste and conserving our planet‟s resources” says Fay Mansell,

Chair of the NFWI. “Our diverse membership which includes good cooks, mothers, grandmothers, professionals

and university students ideally places us to express our love of food and share practical waste prevention tips.”

WRAP Project Manager, Julia Falcon, says: “We are so pleased to be supporting the WI on this initiative. It is

really important to work together with local communities and to learn from them about what works best in their

homes.

“It is sad that so much food is being wasted needlessly. At a cost of £8 billion a year, it‟s a serious issue that not

only impacts the environment but our pockets too.”

Each group will consist of about six to eight participants. They will meet once a month for about four months to

discuss ways of reducing food waste, through proper food storage, portion sizing and measuring tips as well as

handy hints for using up leftovers.

“Food waste costs us a lot of money and also contributes to climate change” says Fay Mansell. “The Love Food

Groups will help make reducing food waste fun, easy and effective. Everyone who joins will be with others who

also want to reduce their food waste. We‟ll be sharing tips and experiences. I‟m really looking forward to it. If

anyone wants to join can they please email us at [email protected], visit our website, or phone”. Fay

Mansell added.

Reducing food waste is important to help reduce climate change. Production, transporting and storing food uses a

lot of energy, water and packaging, which is wasted if thrown away uneaten. If food wastage was stopped it is

estimated that it would save 15 million tonnes of carbon dioxide each year. This is equivalent to taking one car in

five cars off UK roads.

ENDS


Notes to editors:

1. The WI is the largest women‟s organisation in the UK with 205,000 members in 6,800 WIs. The charity

campaigns on issues that matter to women and their communities from children‟s diet and human trafficking to healthy eating and the environment.

2. The „Love Food, Hate Waste‟ campaign has been created to raise awareness of the issue of food waste with consumers and provide information on what simple steps can be taken to combat the problem, which has a significant environmental impact.

3. Visit the WI website www.theWI.org.uk or the „Love Food, Hate Waste‟ website www.lovefoodhatewaste.com

Sample regional press release

National Federation of Women‟s Institutes

News Release

Ref: 02/08

Issued: 28 January 2008

Food lovers sought in Cambridge for ground-breaking project

The National Federation of Women‟s Institutes (NFWI) is launching a unique pilot project in support of the „Love

Food Hate Waste‟ campaign from WRAP (Waste & Resources Action Programme.) The project aims to help

consumers get the most out of the food they buy and reduce the amount of food thrown away at home.

The NFWI is recruiting Love Food Champions across England and Wales who will share clever planning tips, test

leftovers recipes and work together to find ways to store and keep food for longer.

Food waste is a huge environmental issue. The British throw away around a third of all food bought; that‟s the

same as one in three shopping bags full of food going straight into the bin. Most of this ends up in landfill sites

where it produces methane, a powerful greenhouse gas. It is also costing us all a lot of money – up to £400 worth

of food per household is being binned every year.

Spaces are still available for anyone interested in joining the local Love Food group in Cambridge. The NFWI is

particularly interested in recruiting men and women with school age children, or younger working people without

families. To find out more, get in touch with the WI, and the local Love Food Champion leader will provide you

with more information.

“The WI is passionate about food, preventing waste and conserving our planet‟s resources,” says Ruth Bond,

Cambridge‟s Love Food Champion. “Our diverse membership, which includes good cooks, mothers,

grandmothers, professionals and university students, ideally places us to express our love of food and share

practical waste prevention tips.”

WRAP are funding the Love Food Champions project, which is due to complete later this year. The project

findings will show which tips and practical advice have the most impact on reducing food waste in people‟s

homes.

As WRAP‟s Project Manager Julia Falcon says: “We are so pleased to be supporting the WI on this initiative. It is

really important to work together with local communities and to learn from them about what works best in their

homes.”

To get involved in this exciting opportunity, please contact

ENDS

http://www.thewi.org.uk/

http://www.lovefoodhatewaste.com/


Notes to editors:

4. The WI is the largest women‟s organisation in the UK with 205,000 members in 6,800 WIs. The charity

campaigns on issues that matter to women and their communities from children‟s diet and human trafficking to healthy eating and the environment.

5. The „Love Food, Hate Waste‟ campaign has been created to raise awareness of the issue of food waste with consumers and provide information on what simple steps can be taken to combat the problem, which has a significant environmental impact.

6. Visit the WI website www.theWI.org.uk or the „Love Food, Hate Waste‟ website www.lovefoodhatewaste.com

Appendix C Participant evaluation forms:

kitchen caddy forms

Kitchen caddy instructions

Please measure your food waste over a period of up to seven days, for example Saturday to Friday

or Monday to Sunday. By food waste we mean any item of food that has been thrown away rather

than being eaten. Exclude peelings, cores and bones or anything else that could not have been

eaten – we are only interested in food that was designed to have been eaten.

After every meal place any edible food waste (such as leftovers) into the lined caddy. Do the same

for other items of food waste that might arise during the day, for example from fridge clear outs,

snacks or from children‟s lunchboxes. At the end of each day assess how full the caddy is and

record it on the „Kitchen caddy collection‟ sheet. Then take the liner out of the caddy and dispose of

the food in the normal way, putting a new liner in the caddy ready for the next day. If one day you

don‟t have any food waste, record a zero on the collection sheet and start the next day. If you forget

to empty the caddy, don‟t worry – just catch up the next day.

TIP: Keep your caddy by your bin to remind you to use it.

http://www.thewi.org.uk/

http://www.lovefoodhatewaste.com/


Kitchen caddy collection

To be completed at the beginning of the project

DAY – ex Tuesday Today I threw away enough food to fill

1 - ……………….. 1 whole caddy

¾ of a caddy

½ a caddy

¼ of a caddy

Less than ¼ of a caddy

I didn‟t throw any food away today

2 - ……………….. 1 whole caddy

¾ of a caddy

½ a caddy

¼ of a caddy



3 - ……………….. 1 whole caddy

¾ of a caddy

½ a caddy

¼ of a caddy



4 - ……………….. 1 whole caddy

¾ of a caddy

½ a caddy

¼ of a caddy



5 - ……………….. 1 whole caddy

¾ of a caddy

½ a caddy

¼ of a caddy



6 - ……………….. 1 whole caddy

¾ of a caddy

½ a caddy

¼ of a caddy



7 - ……………….. 1 whole caddy

¾ of a caddy

½ a caddy

¼ of a caddy




To be completed at the end of the project

DAY – ex Tuesday Today I threw away enough food to fill

1 - ……………….. 1 whole caddy

¾ of a caddy

½ a caddy

¼ of a caddy



2 - ……………….. 1 whole caddy

¾ of a caddy

½ a caddy

¼ of a caddy



3 - ……………….. 1 whole caddy

¾ of a caddy

½ a caddy

¼ of a caddy



4 - ……………….. 1 whole caddy

¾ of a caddy

½ a caddy

¼ of a caddy



5 - ……………….. 1 whole caddy

¾ of a caddy

½ a caddy

¼ of a caddy



6 - ……………….. 1 whole caddy

¾ of a caddy

½ a caddy

¼ of a caddy



7 - ……………….. 1 whole caddy

¾ of a caddy

½ a caddy

¼ of a caddy




Appendix D Participant evaluation forms:

meetings

Meeting 1 – Participants

Please give us feedback on the Food Shopping meeting by ticking the most appropriate box. This will help us to

improve the project for others in the future.

Please rate the following areas of the meeting.

Very good Fairly good Average Not very

good

Not

applicable

Subject matter

Educational materials

Activities

Group leader

Length of meeting

Meeting venue

Please tell us what you liked best about the meeting.

…………………………………………………………………………………………..

…………………………………………………………………………………………..

Please tell us what could be improved upon.

…………………………………………………………………………………………..

…………………………………………………………………………………………..

Is there anything else that you would have liked to discuss during the food shopping meeting?

…………………………………………………………………………………………..

…………………………………………………………………………………………..

One a scale from 0-10 with 0 being a shopping strategy that leads to a lot of food waste to10 being the optimum

food shopping strategy, what score would you give yourself currently?

My current food shopping score is □

My aspired score is □

Unless your current score is 0, what is it that you are already doing well?

…………………………………………………………………………………………..

…………………………………………………………………………………………..

What else will you do to reach your aspired score?

…………………………………………………………………………………………..

…………………………………………………………………………………………..

Please set yourself a personal goal for the month ahead that you believe will help in your efforts to reach your

aspired goal. This will be revisited at the beginning of next month‟s meeting to see how well you‟ve done and

what, if any, barriers have stood in your way to achieving this goal.

Goal: …………………………………………………………………………………..

…………………………………………………………………………………………..



We would like to hear how you did with your goal from last meeting. Please fill in the following questions at the

beginning of the meeting.

Your goal: ……………………………………………………………………………..

…………………………………………………………………………………………..

Please list your top hint or tip to share with the group.

Top tip: ………………………………………………………………………………...

…………………………………………………………………………………………..

…………………………………………………………………………………………..

Were you able to achieve the goal you set yourself at the last meeting? (Please circle answer)

Yes / No

If no, what problems or barriers did you come across?

…………………………………………………………………………………………..

…………………………………………………………………………………………..

…………………………………………………………………………………………..

…………………………………………………………………………………………..

Evaluation

Please give us feedback on the Portion Sizes and Meal Planning meeting by ticking the most appropriate box.

This will help us to improve the project for others in the future.

Please rate the following areas of the meeting


good

Not

applicable

Subject matter – portion sizes

Subject matter – meal planning


Activities

Group leader

Length of meeting

Meeting venue


…………………………………………………………………………………………..

…………………………………………………………………………………………..


………………………………………………………………………………………..

…………………………………………………………………………………………..

Is there anything else that you would have liked to discuss during the portion sizes and meal planning meeting?

…………………………………………………………………………………………..

…………………………………………………………………………………………..


One a scale from 0-10 with 0 being a portion sizing or meal planning strategy that leads to a lot of food waste

to10 being the optimum portion sizing or meal planning strategy, what score would you give yourself currently?

My current portion sizing score is □



…………………………………………………………………………………………..


…………………………………………………………………………………………..

My current meal planning score is □



…………………………………………………………………………………………..


…………………………………………………………………………………………..




Goal: …………………………………………………………………………………




Your goal: ……………………………………………………………………………..

…………………………………………………………………………………………..


Top tip: ………………………………………………………………………………...

…………………………………………………………………………………………..

…………………………………………………………………………………………..


Yes / No


…………………………………………………………………………………………..

…………………………………………………………………………………………..

…………………………………………………………………………………………..

…………………………………………………………………………………………..

Evaluation

Please give us feedback on the Food Storage and Preservation meeting by ticking the most appropriate box. This

will help us to improve the project for others in the future.




good

Not

applicable

Subject matter


Activities

Group leader

Length of meeting

Meeting venue


…………………………………………………………………………………………..

…………………………………………………………………………………………..


…………………………………………………………………………………………..

…………………………………………………………………………………………..

Is there anything else that you would have liked to discuss during the food storage and preservation meeting?

…………………………………………………………………………………………..

…………………………………………………………………………………………..

One a scale from 0-10 with 0 being a storage and preservation strategy that leads to a lot of food waste to10

being the optimum storage and preservation strategy, what score would you give yourself currently?

My current storage and preservation score is □



…………………………………………………………………………………………..

…………………………………………………………………………………………..


…………………………………………………………………………………………..

…………………………………………………………………………………………..




Goal: …………………………………………………………………………………..

…………………………………………………………………………………………..

Are you interested in being featured as a case study on the Love Food Hate Waste website to share you

experiences with others? (Please circle your answer)

Yes / No

If yes please provide your telephone number so that someone from the WRAP food waste team can ring you to

discuss further.

Tel: …………………………………….





Your goal: ……………………………………………………………………………..

…………………………………………………………………………………………..


Top tip: ………………………………………………………………………………...

…………………………………………………………………………………………..

…………………………………………………………………………………………..


Yes / No


…………………………………………………………………………………………..

…………………………………………………………………………………………..

…………………………………………………………………………………………..

…………………………………………………………………………………………..

Evaluation

Please give us feedback on the Leftovers meeting by ticking the most appropriate box. This will help us to

improve the project for others in the future.



good

Not

applicable

Subject matter


Activities

Group leader

Length of meeting

Meeting venue


…………………………………………………………………………………………..

…………………………………………………………………………………………..


…………………………………………………………………………………………..

…………………………………………………………………………………………..

Is there anything else that you would have liked to discuss during the leftovers meeting?

…………………………………………………………………………………………..

…………………………………………………………………………………………..

One a scale from 0-10 with 0 being a leftovers strategy that leads to a lot of food waste to10 being the optimum

leftovers strategy, what score would you give yourself currently?

My current leftovers score is □




…………………………………………………………………………………………..

…………………………………………………………………………………………..


…………………………………………………………………………………………..

…………………………………………………………………………………………..


aspired goal.

Goal: …………………………………………………………………………………..

…………………………………………………………………………………………..

Are you interested in being featured as a case study on the Love Food Hate Waste website to share you

experiences with others? (Please circle your answer)

Yes / No

If yes please provide your telephone number so that someone from the WRAP food waste team can ring you to

discuss further.

Tel: ………………………………………


Appendix E Questionnaires

Initial Questionnaire

The following questionnaire is designed to find out a little bit about each Love Food Group participants‟ current

behaviour and attitude to food waste. These same questions will be revisited at the end of the project to

determine how effectively the project helped to change behaviour and attitudes to food waste.

Please ensure that you fill in this questionnaire honestly, you will not be made to share your answers with

anyone else in the group unless you feel comfortable doing so, it is purely to help the WI evaluate the project.

1. Thinking about when you have to throw uneaten food items away, to what extent, if at all, does it bother you?

(Please tick the most appropriate)

A great deal

A fair amount

A little

Not very much

Not at all

2. How much uneaten food – overall – would you say you throw away? (Please tick the most appropriate)

Quite a lot

A reasonable amount

Some

A small amount

Hardly any

None

3. How much effort do you and your household go to in order to minimise the amount of uneaten food you throw

away? (Please tick the most appropriate)

A great deal

A fair amount

A little

Not very much

None at all


4. Thinking about your normal FOOD shopping routine and habits involving food, how would you rate yourself on

the following? (Please mark your answers with a tick)

Very

good

Fairly

good Average

Not very

good

Definitely not

one of my

strengths

Don‟t do

this

Pre-shopping planning (e.g. making

a list, checking the cupboards to see

what you already have)

Discipline in the store (e.g. sticking

to the list, avoiding „impulse‟ buys, and

buying only what you think you‟ll use)

Meal planning (e.g. knowing what

you are going to prepare in the week

ahead)

Portioning (e.g. knowing how much

rice or pasta to cook)

Fridge/cupboard organisation at

home (e.g. knowing what you have

and when products‟ “use by” or “best

before” dates are coming up)


proper storage (e.g. storing bananas

away from other fruits, keeping milk

chilled at below 5ºC)

Making best use of storage tools

(e.g. freezing extra portions or using

containers to prolong the life of food)

Cooking skills (e.g. understanding

the range of things you can prepare

from raw/fresh ingredients)

Making best use of leftovers (e.g.

taking food leftovers/random

ingredients and making a meal)

5. Most people sometimes prepare too much food. How often do you throw away surplus food that could have

been used either as the same meal on a different day or as ingredients for a new meal? (Please tick the most

appropriate)

All the time

Most of the time

Sometimes

Hardly ever

Never


6. How often would you say edible food is thrown away during mealtimes in your home? (Please tick the most

appropriate)

Every meal

More than once a day

Once a day

Once every two days

Less than once every two days

7. What are you most hoping to get out of this project?

..................................................................................................................................................................

..................................................................................................................................................................

Some information about you

This information will be used by the Women‟s Institute and project partners to assess how representative the

groups are of the UK population as a whole. It will be treated in strict confidence.

Name ..........................................................................................................................................................

Your Love Food Group co-ordinator‟s name ......................................................................................................

Your postcode ...............................................................................................................................................

Are you male or female? (Please tick most appropriate)

Male

Female

How old are you? (Please tick most appropriate) __ 20 or under

__ 21-35

__ 36-50

__ 51-65

__ over 65

How many people live in your household (including yourself)? (Please tick most appropriate)

Adults (over 18s)

Children aged 0-5

Children aged 6-10

Children aged 11-15

Children aged 16-18

What is the employment status of your household‟s main earner? (Please tick most appropriate)

Employed full time

Employed part time

Self employed

Not currently employed

Stay-at-home parent

Long term sick/disabled

Retired


If the main earner is employed, please describe their job below.

..................................................................................................................................................................

And if you aren‟t the main earner in your household, what is your employment status? (Please tick most

appropriate)

Employed full time

Employed part time

Self employed

Not currently employed

Stay-at-home parent

Long term sick/disabled

Retired

What is your ethnic origin? (Please tick most appropriate)

White

Asian / Asian British

Black/Black British

Chinese

Mixed

Other

Where, if anywhere, do you have access to the Internet? (Please tick as many as apply)

At home

At work

At friends and family

Free at a public place e.g. a library

At a public place but only if I pay e.g. an Internet café

Some other place

I don‟t have access

I don‟t know

How did you hear about the project? (Please tick most appropriate):

__ local newspaper

please specify ………………………………………………………………………………………..

__ national newspaper

please specify ………………………………………………………………………………………..

__ broadcast media

__ WI website

__ Love Food Hate Waste website

__ word of mouth

__ other

please specify ........................................................................................................................................

Thank you for taking the time to complete this questionnaire.


Final Project Evaluation

The following questionnaire is designed to compare results with the Initial Questionnaire you completed at the

beginning of the project to help us evaluate changes made throughout the project.

Please ensure that you fill in this questionnaire honestly, you will not be made to share your answers with

anyone else in the group unless you feel comfortable doing so, it is purely to help the WI evaluate the project.

Name ..........................................................................................................................................................

Your Love Food Group co-ordinator‟s name …………………………………………………………………..

1. Thinking about when you have to throw uneaten food items away, to what extent, if at all, does it bother you?

(Please tick the most appropriate)

A great deal

A fair amount

A little

Not very much

Not at all

2. How much uneaten food – overall – would you say you throw away? (Please tick the most appropriate)

Quite a lot

A reasonable amount

Some

A small amount

Hardly any

None

3. How much effort do you and your household go to in order to minimise the amount of uneaten food you throw

away? (Please tick the most appropriate)

A great deal

A fair amount

A little

Not very much

None at all


4. Thinking about your normal FOOD shopping routine and habits involving food, how would you rate yourself on

the following? (Please mark your answers with a tick)

Very

good

Fairly

good Average

Not very

good

Definitely not

one of my

strengths

Don‟t do

this

Pre-shopping planning (e.g. making

a list, checking the cupboards to see

what you already have)

Discipline in the store (e.g. sticking

to the list, avoiding „impulse‟ buys, and

buying only what you think you‟ll use)

Meal planning (e.g. knowing what

you are going to prepare in the week

ahead)

Portioning (e.g. knowing how much

rice or pasta to cook)

Fridge/cupboard organisation at

home (e.g. knowing what you have

and when products‟ “use by” or “best

before” dates are coming up)


proper storage (e.g. storing bananas

away from other fruits, keeping milk

chilled at below 5ºC)

Making best use of storage tools

(e.g. freezing extra portions or using

containers to prolong the life of food)

Cooking skills (e.g. understanding

the range of things you can prepare

from raw/fresh ingredients)

Making best use of leftovers (e.g.

taking food leftovers/random

ingredients and making a meal)

5. Most people sometimes prepare too much food. How often do you throw away surplus food that could have

been used either as the same meal on a different day or as ingredients for a new meal? (Please tick the most

appropriate)

All the time

Most of the time

Sometimes

Hardly ever

Never


6. How often would you say edible food is thrown away during mealtimes in your home? (Please tick the most

appropriate)

Every meal

More than once a day

Once a day

Once every two days

Less than once every two days

7. Did this project meet your initial expectations? If not, why not?

..................................................................................................................................................................

8. What did you like best about the project?

..................................................................................................................................................................

9. In your opinion what could have made the project even better?

..................................................................................................................................................................

10. Would you recommend this project to a friend or colleague?

..................................................................................................................................................................

11. Please include any other comments on the project.

..................................................................................................................................................................

12. One a scale from 0-10 with 0 being a strategy that leads to a lot of food waste to 10 being the optimum

strategy, what score would you give yourself now that the project is completed?

My food shopping score is □

My portion sizing score is □

My meal planning score is □

My food storage and preservation score is □

13. Are you happy for us to contact you in a few weeks to see how things are progressing?

Yes / No

If yes, please complete your contact details.

Address ……………………………………………………………………

Telephone ……………………………………..email…………………………………

Thank you for taking the time to fill in this questionnaire.

www.lovefoodhatewaste.com

Final report Love Food Champions - WRAP draft FINAL report...Final report Love Food Champions...

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