Have you ever thrown away food that could have been eaten? A half-used tub of hummus past its use-by date, squishy peaches, black-spotted carrots…
The average New Zealand household throws away three shopping trolleys of food every year.
Teaching people how to make the most of food at home is essential to changing this statistic. To support more education, Auckland Council is funding Love Food Hate Waste grants to individuals and organisations that run community workshops and other initiatives designed to prevent food waste, like food rescue schemes.
Applications for the council’s Love Food Hate Waste grants open 1 February 2024.
Grants from $500 to $5000 are available for educational projects and activities that support people to make the most of their kai and prevent food waste. The fund has a total of $60,000 to award.
After receiving a Love Food Hate Waste grant in 2023, community organisation Rākau Tautoko funded a series of four workshops to teach a Glen Innes women’s group how to make kai go further on a budget and reduce waste.
Grandmother-of-15 Tricia Joe, who ran the workshops, was surprised by how much participants did not know at the beginning, but all the women proved to be eager learners.
“Much of what I taught was based on what my parents and tūpuna handed down to me – practical methods for making the most of our kai which save money and help the environment.
“Everything the participants learned, they could take home and use straight away. From different ways of cutting up meat to storage tips to help kai stay fresher for longer, and much more.”
One of Tricia’s demonstration cooking sessions involved making several meals that worked out to $2.50 per person per meal.
“The participants were amazed at how much further the food went and how absolutely everything could be used.”
Another aspect that resonated strongly with the group was the health and wellbeing of their children.
“Involving your children in planning, budgeting and preparing meals sets them up for self-sufficiency and better health for life.”
Auckland Council is one of 52 councils and community groups that support Love Food Hate Waste NZ, which highlights the issue of preventable food waste and aims to reduce the amount of edible food thrown out each year.
Prior to our food scraps bins service, food waste made up 45 per cent of the weight of an average Auckland household’s rubbish bag or bin. Of this, waste audits have shown that a significant proportion could have been avoided in the first place or eaten.
According to Love Food Hate Waste NZ, households across the country throw away around 157,398 tonnes of food per year. In landfill, this food waste is a major contributor to climate change, and preventing it is one of the simplest ways to make an impact at home.
Applications for Auckland Council’s Love Food Hate Waste grants open on 1 February 2024 and close on 5 March 2024, with successful applicants being notified in April.
To find out more about applying for a Love Food Hate Waste grant, visit the Auckland Council website and search ‘LFHW’ or click here.
To learn more about food waste prevention visit lovefoodhatewaste.co.nz.
