Can a Family-Based Program Help Reduce Food Waste at Home?
Can a Family-Based Program Help Reduce Food Waste at Home?
The Weeknight Supper Savers program helped families build food preparation skills, increase confidence in reducing food waste, and explore strategies to make better use of food at home.
What We Did and Why We Did It
We tested a 4-week family-based program called Weeknight Supper Savers with 19 families in Guelph, Ontario, who had children aged 9–12 years. The program included an online cooking class, a food waste toolkit with meal planning and food storage resources, and weekly text messages with tips for reducing food waste. Researchers assessed families’ experiences with the program, food waste behaviours, and changes in food literacy before and after the intervention.
Household food waste is a major environmental, economic, and nutrition issue, with families throwing away large amounts of edible food each year. Previous programs have focused mostly on providing information, but few have used hands-on approaches to build food skills or involved children in reducing food waste. This study explored whether a family-focused program could help families plan meals, prepare food, and reduce waste together.
What We Found
What We Can Learn From This
Families responded positively to the Weeknight Supper Savers program. Almost all families attended the cooking class, and parents reported high satisfaction with the overall program, toolkit, and cooking activities. After the intervention, families reduced some types of food waste, including avoidable fruit and vegetable waste. Parents also reported greater confidence in reducing food waste, and more children understood that foods can still be safe to eat after their best-before date.
Family-based programs that combine practical cooking experiences, meal planning tools, and food waste education may be a promising way to help families waste less food. Involving children in cooking and food decisions may also help build lifelong food skills and sustainable habits.
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