WRAP makes Food Waste Action Week an annual event

Spearheaded by the resources charity’s Love Food Hate Waste campaign, Food Waste Action Week 2022 will take place between  7- 13 March, and the charity is now urging organisations to sign up.

This comes after this year’s event which took place from 1 – 7 March (see letsreycle.com story), was an “incredible success”.

Food Waste Action Week centred on encouraging people to make the most of the food they buy by portion planning, using correct storage and being creative with leftovers.

Food waste

Research conducted by the charity showed that nearly half of those who saw Food Waste Action Week 2021 messaging reported either doing something differently to reduce food waste or planning to in future.

It also showed that one in three adults heard or saw messaging about food waste during the week.

The week was headed by celebrity chef Nadiya Hussain and drove the message ‘wasting food feeds climate change’.

WRAP has also released a highlights video from the 2021 event to “build momentum” for next year.

‘Incredible success’

Sarah Clayton, head of citizen behaviour change at WRAP said: “Food Waste Action Week 2021 was an incredible success, especially considering the backdrop of the continuing pandemic. I thank all the businesses and organisations involved for their commitment during the Week, helping citizens make the link between wasting food and climate change.

“We are looking forward to making Food Waste Action Week 2022 an even greater success.”

‘Redouble our efforts’

Defra food waste champion, Ben Elliot, added: “Food Waste Action Week 2021 was a fantastic success in raising awareness of the urgent issue of food waste and its links to climate change. WRAP’s programme made a real difference in helping citizens reduce their carbon footprint by empowering us all to take practical steps to minimise the amount of unnecessary food waste.

“We now need to redouble our efforts to encourage people to take action and to help fight climate change. I hope all of you across the food supply chain and beyond will join us for next year’s event.”