Informing Year Four

Building on our research

The food waste discussion is gathering pace in the UK. This is reflected in Food Savvy polling undertaken by Hubbub in Norfolk and Suffolk in autumn 2021 which found that:

60% said that food waste is a major cause of climate change (39% in 2020)

49% of respondents have noticed an increase in how often national media are talking about food waste (45% for local media)

44% said their local area was increasingly talking about food waste (compared to 26% in 2020)

54% said their community and friends were discussing the issue (a rise of 24% from 2020)

81% of respondents said they don’t waste much food (the same number as 2020)

74% were concerned about food waste

28% now think food waste has more of an impact on climate change than single-use plastic (compared to 16% in 2020)

What causes food waste at home?

45% not using items before their use-by date.

38% due to plans changing at the last minute

38% make their portion sizes too big

37% buy more than they need

37% blame their children refusing to eat something

Encouragingly, people don’t like throwing away food:

46% feel sad

42% feel frustrated

31% feel angry

when they throw away food which could have been eaten

Top five most wasted foods:

26% Bread

26% Cooked pasta

26% Salad

25% Cooked rice

25% Leftover meals

Hands up who’s heard of Food Savvy

We asked the public in Norfolk and Suffolk whether they were familiar with the Food Savvy campaign and brand, and how they were finding out about the campaign.

49% had heard of Food Savvy, an increase on the previous year’s figure of 11%.

Those aged 25-34 were the most likely to have heard about the campaign (72%).

Those on lower incomes were the least likely to have heard about the campaign. 16% of those earning less than £25,000 were aware of the campaign vs. 76% of those earning between £65,001-£75,000.

Social media remains the most common source of awareness (58%). Word of mouth is the next most (48%).

Local media awareness has increased – in 2021 44% said that they had seen Food Savvy on local TV, 36% local radio, 42% local papers. More than double the previous year.