Reflecting on Year 1 of Every Bite
‘So inspired by our gathering tonight,’ wrote one person online after coming to an Every Bite event in Hawke’s Bay. ‘Let’s create something amazing here!’
It’s this type of enthusiasm for food waste prevention that the Every Bite programme was developed to encourage, and facilitators are pleased to see awareness spreading as the first year of workshops comes to an end.
‘I think the programme was great,’ said a participant who completed the programme in August. ‘It helped grow my understanding of food waste, and how small actions can make big impacts.’
Every Bite is a month-long facilitated programme that helps New Zealanders prevent avoidable food waste at home, developed by Zero Waste Network and Environment Hubs Aotearoa.
An Every Bite event at Hapi in Hawke's Bay. Photo: Michelle Kang.
The project is part of the Ministry for the Environment’s ‘National food waste reduction programmes’ that together aim to deliver large-scale, national-level behaviour-change to reduce food waste and emissions.
The first year of Every Bite ran from October 2023 to September 2024, and involved research, a co-design process and three sets of workshop pilots, run by four Hubs who worked closely with the project team to test and develop the programme.
Year One: the numbers:
Over 340 people attended kick off events and workshops run by the Hub partners during Every Bite’s first year.
People who participated in the programme were positive about the experience, with 92% saying they had reduced avoidable food waste, 90% feeling motivated to continue taking action after the programme and 90% sharing their experience with others.
Common barriers to overcome were getting the household on board, including children, and lacking time to plan or embed new habits. Those who took part were motivated by a desire to waste less food, do their bit for the environment, and save money.
‘Year 1 of Every Bite has been a great experience’ says Project Manager Rachel Glasier. ‘We gathered some rich insights that will enable us to improve the programme in year two, and continue to amplify its impact.’
What we learned:
In-person events and workshops are valued highly by participants, and are very effective in building awareness about food waste prevention.
The majority of participants who tried one of the suggested activities found it useful.
Many participants found the simple act of measuring their edible food waste effective in building self-awareness, even without other activities or interventions.
Some participants are experiencing a wider ripple effect of food waste awareness from the programme activities into other habits, such as grocery shopping, meal planning and food preparation.
‘It's been rewarding to deliver Every Bite this year, and support people to rethink their food waste at home,’ says Michelle Kang, Community Education Lead for Sustainable Hawke’s Bay. She is looking forward to connecting with the new Hubs in year 2 and exploring more approaches to motivating behavioural change.
‘One of the main things I learned was that we all waste food in one way or the other, but preventing food waste doesn’t have to be complex - it’s one simple action at a time.’
The Every Bite team were excited to recently announce the Hubs who will be delivering year 2 of Every Bite, and will meet with them in November to prepare for the programme’s second year.
If you’d like to take part in Every Bite yourself, or you know of a group / organisation that might want to participate, you can register your interest here.
Join a growing collective of people working to prevent Aotearoa’s food waste.