There is enough food in the world to feed everyone, but over 800 million people suffer from malnutrition. Moreover, food is wasted at astonishing rates in every step of its life cycle because of poor storage in developing countries and careless buying in developed ones. Fighting this issue remains a great challenge, so we had to ask: What is the most important information you need to know about this year’s Food Waste Action Week?

👉 Official Name: Food Waste Action Week
💚 Cause: Raising awareness of the global food waste problem and inspiring change
📅 Next Date: TBD
🌐 Official Website: lovefoodhatewaste.com/take-action-save-food/food-waste-action-week
🐦 Hashtag: #FoodWasteActionWeek, #NoFoodWaste, #FoodRescue, #FightHunger

Keep reading to find out all the important information about Food Waste Action Week at a glance: its big picture, why it’s important, and how you can get involved. We’ll then share its brief history, three interesting facts about it, its future dates, and how you’ll never miss any important awareness event again.

The Most Important Information About Food Waste Action Week at a Glance

1️⃣ The big picture: Food Waste Action Week unites businesses, governments, and global partners to help citizens develop the tools needed to cut food waste in their homes. The event works with companies that produce food and the shops that sell it to help improve how food is packaged and sold to avoid wastage. The campaign also fights for new food-saving technology and techniques to keep as much food on plates and out of the bin as possible. In addition, they teach communities tips on how to start rescuing food smartly to protect our environment. 

2️⃣ Why it is important: ⅓ of food produced for human consumption is lost or wasted globally. Households waste over 1 billion meals worth of edible food every day, the equivalent of 1.3 meals daily for everyone affected by hunger. In addition, the cost of food waste for the global economy is roughly $1 trillion. Furthermore, food loss and waste generate nearly 10% of global greenhouse gas emissions – almost five times the emissions of the aviation sector. What’s more, we lose food perfectly fit for eating, as 35% of the wasted food is simply thrown out by shops and households.

3️⃣ How you can get involved: You can participate in Food Waste Action Week by changing your consumer habits, using food-saving apps, or supporting and inspiring others to combat food waste:

1. Mindful habits: Pay attention to how much food you regularly waste and implement strategies for shopping, cooking, and storing that can help you enjoy all the food you buy while saving our planet and resources at the same time! You can also join dedicated events during the week to learn more tips about rescuing food.
2. Try dedicated apps: There are tens of engaging and creative apps you can use to fight food loss. They can help you give away food you do not need, buy food that would have gone to waste, or meal prep and plan efficiently. 
3. Inspire and support: Consider donating your time and money to organizations that fight food loss and hunger while advancing healthy nutrition. Moreover, you can share useful tips with loved ones and on social media to help people be mindful consumers. 

Below are our favorite charities that are relevant for Food Waste Action Week:

• Best Charities That Fight to Reduce Food Waste
• Best Charities That Fight Hunger Globally
• Best Charities That Fight Child Hunger
• Best Charities That Advance Healthy Nutrition

A Brief History of Food Waste Action Week

When was this event established: Food Waste Action Week was founded in 2020 in the UK by the Love Food Hate Waste campaign, which has been tackling global food waste and hunger since 2007. Following its success in the UK, the international climate charity WRAP (The Waste and Resources Action Programme), also based in the UK, partnered with the campaign to give it a global reach and rescue even more food from wastage. 

How has it developed since then: Today, Food Waste Action Week’s goal is to “work together to halve food waste by 2030”. The campaign reaches tens of countries worldwide, including the US, Australia, Canada, Mexico, New Zealand, and South Africa. For example, in 2022, they were supported by 80 organizations across 12 countries, engaging over 8 million people with the food waste issue. As a result, 55% of these people took action to reduce the amount of food they bin at home. 

3 Interesting Facts About Food Waste Action Week

1. Themed advice: Each year, Food Waste Action Week inspires people to save food through different themes. In 2023, for example, the theme “Win. Don’t Bin.” helped people find out how to save time, money, and the food they buy with tailored tips from answers to quizzes. In 2024, the theme “Choose What You’ll Use” highlighted the benefits of buying loose fruit and vegetables to rescue more food.
2. A growing population: Over 2 billion people will join our planet between 2020 and 2050. To have the means to feed all of them, the world will either have to increase food production by 70% or decrease the total food waste by around 50%. For example, the water used to produce all the currently wasted food could support 9 billion people, with 200 liters per person each day. 
3. How we lose food: In developing countries, 40% of losses happen during postharvest and processing stages. Poor storage conditions in farms lead to pest infestations and mold ruining crops. Lack of access to technology and markets makes the crops rot in fields. Developed countries lose 40% of food at the retail and consumer levels. Half of the food in the US is wasted because it is deemed too “ugly” to eat, and unethical buying accounts for 47% of food waste. 

Upcoming Dates of Food Waste Action Week

Food Waste Action Week is observed every year during March. 

Never Miss an Awareness Event Again

Sources

• World Food Programme: 5 facts about food waste and hunger
• United Nations: UN Report: Global hunger numbers rose to as many as 828 million in 2021
• The World Counts: food waste statistics
• National Library of Medicine: Consumer Behaviour and Food Waste: Understanding and Mitigating Waste with a Technology Probe
• Earth.org: 25 Shocking Facts About Food Waste
• Love Food Hate Waste: Food Waste Action Week
• Love Food Hate Waste: our story
• Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations: GLOBAL FOOD LOSSES AND FOOD WASTE
• United Nations: International Day of Awareness on Food Loss and Waste Reduction
• Love Food Hate Waste: good food habits
• Love Food Hate Waste: fridge temperature
• Love Food Hate Waste: food guides
• Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations: 15 quick tips for reducing food waste and becoming a Food hero
• Almost Zero Waste: 18 Food Waste Apps To Save Money & The Planet (2024)
• Impactful Ninja: Best Charities That Fight to Reduce Food Waste
• Post Harvest: 7 Mobile Apps That Help Consumers Reduce Food Waste
• Save the Food: home page
• Nosh: home page
• Impactful Ninja: Best Charities That Fight Hunger Globally
• Impactful Ninja: Best Charities That Advance Healthy Nutrition
• Stop Food Waste: 25 Ways to Reduce Food Waste
• University of Warwick: Food Waste Action Week
• WRAP: home page
• WRAP: FOOD WASTE ACTION WEEK
• WRAP: Love Food Hate Waste Campaign
• Wrexham Council NEWS: ‘Win, Don’t Bin’ for #FoodWasteActionWeek
• Leafield Environmental: Food Waste Action Week: Choose What You’ll Use…
• All About Feed: FAO expects 70% more food needed by 2050
• Forbes: By Ending Food Waste, We Could Feed 10 Billion People
• Earth.org: How Much Food Do American Waste?
• ReFED: Consumer Food Waste