Sign In / Register
With the average New Zealand household throwing away three shopping trolleys’ worth of food a year, Auckland Council is again funding grants to individuals and organisations running food rescue schemes and other initiatives designed to prevent food waste.
Applications for the “Love Food Hate Waste” grants open on February 1 and close on March 5. Successful applicants will be notified in April.
The fund has a total of $60,000 to award, with grants ranging from $500 to $5000 available for educational projects and activities that support people to make the most of their food, with a focus on behaviour change and food waste reduction.
Previous recipients of the grants include Rodney Women’s Centre. Manager Jo Nicholson said the centre embeds the Love Food Hate Waste theme across its programmes, and runs workshops helping participants to better understand the causes and impact of food waste and to develop strategies to reduce it.
Through initiatives such as SuperGrans, Cook and Chat get-togethers, Sustainable Living, Young Mums and Gardening sessions, participants learn how to efficiently plan food shops, plan meals to suit their families, learn and try out recipes, store food efficiently and make the most of seasonal products.
“Our centre community garden was the source of some yummy chutneys, baking and meals this year from our feijoas, grapefruit and garden produce,” Jo said. “We love the energy the theme brings into the centre and the buzz and excitement from sharing new skills and habits participants form.”
Children also get involved in gardening and seedlings are taken home to nurture.
Auckland Council is one of 52 councils and community groups that support Love Food Hate Waste NZ, a campaign highlighting the issue of preventable food waste, with the aim of reducing the amount of edible food thrown out each year.
Prior to council’s food scraps bin service, food waste made up 45 per cent of the weight of an average Auckland household’s rubbish bag or bin. Waste audits show that a significant proportion of that could have been avoided in the first place, or eaten.
Love Food Hate Waste NZ says households nationwide throw away around 157,398 tonnes of food per year. It says food waste in landfills is a major contributor to climate change and preventing it is one of the simplest ways to make an impact at home.
More info: Visit the Auckland Council website and search ‘LFHW’.
