Sainsbury’s Survey Reveals Lack of Stigma About Food Waste

06 Sep 2016 --- A Sainsbury’s report into food waste says that UK households are not too bothered about throwing away food with only three percent feeling ashamed for doing so.

Only an extremely low proportion of people surveyed felt there was a stigma attached to wasting food in the home, while in contrast many more admitted to other money-saving tactics such as saving electricity by switching off the lights when they are not in a room (74 percent) or turning down the heating (55 percent).

Almost one third (32 percent) of the UK adults who were polled in the survey on food waste habits even changed their energy supplier to get a better deal, but did not necessarily think twice about throwing away food. 

Typically these types of household changes might lead to a family saving approximately £305 (US$406) a year, while the average household could save more than twice that much if they got into better habits with the food in their kitchens. More often than not, it’s food, the majority of which is fresh produce with a limited shelf life, goes uneaten and is then ditched. 

Earlier this year Sainsbury’s began a collaboration with the English county of Derbyshire with the aim of reducing food waste by using a new technology. Working with the UK government’s food advisory body, Wrap, Sainsbury’s is planning to roll out similar projects across Britain over the next five years. 

The initiative involves piloting high-tech devices like smarter kitchen appliances including fridges, freezers and allowing people to use smartphones to keep tabs on what produce needs to be eaten before expiring and therefore avoid it being unnecessarily thrown away. 

“We know our customers are concerned about food waste in their own homes, which is why we’ve committed £10 million to help tackle the issue as part of our ‘waste less, save more’ program,” says Sainsbury’s chief executive Mike Coupe.”

“Wasting food has become so normal, there is now no stigma attached to throwing food away. The report shows that people are cost-conscious and making concerted efforts to turn off lights and minimize energy use. However, people are still overlooking the much bigger savings that could be delivered by simply throwing away less food.”

Tomorrow marks the start of the supermarket’s first advertising campaign directed at helping UK households reduce food waste by paying more attention to efficient storage. 

Richard Swannell, the director of sustainable food systems at Wrap, said: “Wasting food costs £700 a year for the average family. That’s money that could be spent on everyday essentials. Both Sainsbury’s and Wrap want to help people see the benefits in making the most of their food.”