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Love Food Hate Waste

10 Cities Campaign

Cardiff Report

Author: Luke Rice

Data & Additional Words: Lia Moutselou & Rebecca Clark Photos: Dan Green & Project Team

Date: 25/03/15

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Contents

Background: Page 3

Aim: Page 3

Objectives: Page 3

Roadshows: Page 4

Workshops: Page 5

Results: Pages 6 - 8

Conclusion: Page 8

Annex: Pages 9 - 16

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Background

Food waste is a huge global problem and the Cardiff is no exception. Around 175,000 tonnes of

municipal waste was collected by Cardiff Council in 2012/13 of which around 18% was waste food.

Of this waste food it is estimated that up to 60% could have been avoided.

There are huge environmental, economic and social costs attributed to this wastage. In the UK

around 17 million tonnes of Co2e is associated with food waste and the BBC recently reported that

£610 million worth of food is wasted in Wales. There is also a social issue associated with food waste

and a ‘societal imbalance’ whereby some are struggling to feed themselves whilst others throw away

good food.

In late 2014 a consortium of organisations successfully applied for funding from WRAP to deliver a

series of activities as part of the Love Food Hate Waste - 10 Cities Campaign. The project was

overseen by Cynefin Cardiff, delivered by Green City Events, Lia’s Kitchen and Adamsdown

Environmental Action Group with support from Dan Green Photography, Cardiff Council and

numerous volunteers.

Aim

The aim of the project was to raise public awareness about the financial, environmental and social

issues associated with wasting food and to offer advice and guidance about how to reduce and avoid

food waste.

Objectives

1. The team planned to deliver two roadshow events and two intensive cookery workshops

between January and March 2015.

2. The events would take place in a variety of venues targeting different socio-economic

groups, as well as university students.

3. We aimed to reach 150 people at each roadshow and 15 people at each workshop.

4. The team would actively distribute information booklets as well as tools to help reduce food

waste. In addition, the activities would be heavily promoted through social media and the

public would be encouraged to download the LFHW mobile app.

5. The team would measure the impact of the workshops with a ‘before & after’ questionnaire.

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Roadshows

The roadshows took place at Roath Farmers Market and at Cardiff Students’ Union. The aim of these

roadshows was to deliver short, sharp messages about the LFHW project to a large number of

people.

To encourage passers-by to engage with the roadshow, Lia’s Kitchen prepared soup tasters and small

portions of cake with recipe’s inspired by those featured on the LFHW webpage. Additionally, the

roadshow was designed to be attractive and interactive. Love Food Hate Waste pull-up banners and

bunting helped decorate the gazeebos and participants were encouraged to use a pedal powered

smoothie maker.

If people wanted to sample the food and take home the tools they had to make a pledge and have a

photo taken with a ‘pledge poster’ designed specifically for this project by Adamsdown

Environmental Action Group. With their agreement the photos were posted on social media, which

helped to generate more interest in the campaign.

Lastly, some of the traders at the Farmers Market informed us afterwards that they had seen an

increase in footfall and trade, which they attributed, in part, to the LFHW roadshow.

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Workshops

The workshops took place at Roath Church House, Penylan and at the No Fit State Circus,

Adamsdown in February 2015. The events were extensively advertised through social media,

flyering, through the mainstream press and promoted at the Farmers Market roadshow.

As a result of the marketing campaign the first workshop sold out within two days and the second

sold out a week before delivery. In total 36 people booked tickets with 28 people turning up on the

day. Tickets were charged at £5 in order to better guarantee participation and all money raised will

be donated to a food charity.

Some tickets were kept aside and were offered to community development organisations and a

church group, in order to reserve places for people with less disposable income.

Prior to the workshops participants were sent a questionnaire asking them (amongst other things)

about their weekly food costs, how much food they disposed of and about their general awareness

of food waste issues. A week after the workshops they were sent a further questionnaire asking

similar questions. The results have been analysed and the headlines will be highlighted later in the

report.

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Results

Roadshows

The roadshows were a big success and we managed to more than meet our targets in terms of

engagement. In total, we spoke to an estimated 170 people at the farmers market (despite the cold

and wet weather) and around 150 at the Students’ Union. Over 80 people agreed to be tweeted with

a pledge card at the two events which in turn generated significant interest in the campaign from a

wider audience.

In total we distributed:

Recipe cards: 292

Think green booklets: 70

Information handbooks: 17

Main ‘5 tips’ leaflets: 300

Think green posters: 51

Contact cards: 66

Spaghetti measures: 280

Bag clips: 400+

Lots of soup, cake and many smoothies!

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Workshops

The workshops were well attended, excellently delivered and well received. There was significant

interest in lead up to the events on social media and in the press, with two articles reported in the

local newspaper. After the workshops some particularly interested participants wrote positive blogs

about their experiences.

The workshops were delivered in a professional yet relaxed manner and participants cooked dishes

whilst discussing the main issues associated with food waste (as well as the ways in which to avoid

waste). It was positive to see broad section of society represented with a variety of ages and income

levels attending. The meals cooked used ingredients which are commonly left over and wasted. To

finish off the workshop all the food was eaten collectively by the group. Lastly, all participants were

given a ‘goodie bag’ full of information and tools which would help them put in to practice what they

learnt at the event.

Headline findings:

30 pre-workshop survey responses and 22 post workshop responses.

Prior to the workshops the types of food that people stated they waste most per week were

salad, vegetables, fruit and bread.

Analysis showed an average reduction of 0.5 food waste bags per week post workshop.

The average participant saved over £30 on their weekly food shopping bill post workshop.

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Fruit, vegetable, salad and bread remained the top types of food wasted but the percentage

of participants who reported wasting these food types more than halved after the

workshops.

The majority of participants (77.3%) used the advice and resources we provided them with

at the workshops.

Our pre-workshop survey recorded a good awareness of the LFHW campaign mainly through

social media, other sources (including our contacts list and mail outs) and the internet.

The week after the workshop participants told us they had a better idea on how to access

advice and information on how to save food (91%).

Half of the participants reported accessing the LFHW website and smart phone app post

event.

Many participants have cascaded information about the LFHW campaign and the tips &

resources we provided within their family and social circles. We estimate that it is likely that

our LFHW messages and our tips, delivered in the workshops, have reached over 160

people.

Conclusion

Overall this LFHW project has been a resounding success. We reached out to the amount of people

we intended to and many more people were made aware of the project through extensive use of

social media and a general cascading effect. Further positives include the fact that all the partners

received significant exposure as a result of this project and both Lia’s Kitchen and Green City Events

have been approached to deliver similar events in the future.

If we were to do anything differently we would have liked to have run some of the events at a

warmer time of year and to have linked in with some of the food festivals that take place in the city.

In addition, we would have liked to have used more unwanted/unused food in the cookery

workshops (perhaps donated by supermarkets). However, these are small points and generally all

partners are very pleased with how the project went and are grateful to have been offered the

opportunity to deliver such a worthwhile and rewarding project.

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Annex

Workshop content and recipes

A pre-requisite of attendance for our workshops was the completion of a pre-workshop survey. This

helped shape and adapt the content of our workshop to the participants needs, in terms of the

recipes and group exercises incorporated in the programme.

The types of food that people told us they waste most per week (ranging from some small amount

to quite a lot) were salad, vegetables, fruit and bread. Whilst salad and vegetables were wasted by

most people (20 out of 33 participants and 17 out of 33 respectively), bread was the one food group

that was the food group that the highest number of people wasted quite a lot of.

When asked what type of advice participants wanted to learn about making most of leftovers (76%),

meal planning (54%) and better storage (42%). Participants also told us they wanted advice on

storing vegetables and fruit including which ones were most cost effective to buy and which had the

longer lifespans. They asked for portioning tools and measurers, tips and resources on freezing,

websites and smart phone Apps for finding recipes for specific ingredients.

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In response, we designed and adapted four recipes for the workshops: Ribollita (re-boiled and

leftover vegetable soup), apple and pear cake, egg and banana pancakes and bread and butter

pudding. Ribollita was a soup that participants had to make with the ingredients and herbs available

to each group (four workshops per group). We also kept vegetable cuttings and some peelings,

including herb stems, which we then mixed with more herbs and divided into small stock making

bags that the participants took home to freeze.

The workshop incorporated exercises and a discussion on freezing periods, methods and tips; fridge

storage and storage tips including ingredient specific advice; planning a week of meals with leftovers

and what is stored in the cupboard/fridge as well as portioning quantities and tools1. At our

workshop we demonstrated how most parts of vegetable can be eaten, and what cannot. In

addition, we used frozen bread to toast whilst having a lunch with all participants at the end of the

workshop. Because of concern about safety aspects of rice consumption both our workshops

discussed storage, re-heating and freezing tips.

Our workshop goodie bags included, amongst other things, food and spaghetti measures, LFHW

recipe flyers, Lia’s Kitchen recipe cards & workshop recipes, food clips, freezer and fridge bags, food

storage labels and information about how to access the online LFHW resources and smart phone

App.

Methodology and Survey results

The observations from our survey are of qualitative nature because of the small sample of our

participants.

Survey design

We designed two fifteen question pre and post workshop surveys to help define the content of our

workshops, assess their impact particularly on food waste and money spent and to receive feedback

1 LFHW resources we used: ‘Lovely leftovers’ exercise from the trainer support handbook, and from the online WRAP resources ‘Too good

to waste: storage’ (act 7), ‘Savvy Storage’ (act 8), ‘your freezer is your friend’ (act 9), ‘Store and thaw’ (act10), ‘fixing perfect portions’ (act

13).

Figure 5- What would you find most useful to get advice and information on?

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on the content of the events. The surveys were made available electronically through the links below

and paper copies were provided on request and at the workshops:

http://goo.gl/forms/mLXfg1epbu

http://goo.gl/forms/9kPVP6AYDU

They aimed to assess the impact and effectiveness of skills sharing (cooking at the workshop), the

recipes we provided, providing tools and online resource to facilitate food waste reduction, as well

the impact of a personal participatory approach to behavioural change.

In designing the survey we consulted LFHW officers and online campaign resources on survey design.

Furthermore, we included some questions from an existing LFHW survey. We believe we ended up

with a survey that covered the right topics but without overburdening the participant.

Response rate

We had 30 pre-workshop survey responses and 22 post workshop responses. Some of the

participants came from the same household so we accepted one response from some participants in

the post workshop survey. As an incentive to complete the post workshop survey we offered

participants entry into a prize draw for a free place at Lia’s Kitchen workshops or pop-up dinner (one

for each workshop). When we remove the pre-workshop survey participants who did not turn up to

the workshops we had almost 100% rate of response to the pre- workshop survey and around 85%

response rate for our post workshop survey. All participants were partly or wholly responsible for

shopping and meal planning in their household.

Food Waste reduction and Money spent on food

Our surveys monitored the number of food waste bags that were disposed and the money spent on

food the weeks before and after our workshop. As a result of our workshops participants reported:

An average reduction of 0.5 food waste bags they disposed each week. The pre-workshop

survey reports an average of 1.6 food waste bags each week (ranging from 0 to 3 bags). After the

Pop-Up Food Waste Café workshops we recorded a reported average 0.5 reduction in food

waste bag disposal, with some participants reporting a 50% reduction. However, some did not

seeing a significant difference in the waste disposal but reported that they managed to make

cooked food go a longer way. On some occasions households did not have a food caddy facility

either because of shared flats or because they had just moved into the house. As a result of their

participation in the workshops we passed on the details of these participants to Cardiff Council

to ensure they are given a brown caddy.

An average saving of over £30 in their weekly shopping budget. The pre-workshop survey

reported an average spend of £52 the week before the workshop (this ranged between £15 and

£150). Whilst after our Pop-Up Waste Café the weekly spend on food had reduced to around

£29 a week (ranging from £7.50 to £90). Most of the people seemed to achieve savings between

£5 and £15 but we also had some participants who stated the workshops helped them to halve

their shopping bills.

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What we helped with most

All of the participants/households that fed back to us found the event informative and useful (figure

5). Whilst the nature of the survey means that figures on waste reduction and cost saving impacts

are indicative and specific to the workshop they still demonstrate that our activity had a beneficial

and positive impact on those who participated.

Fruit, vegetable, salad and bread remained the top types of food wasted but the percentage of

participants who reported wasting these food types more than halved after our workshops. Wasting

bread was reported to be more than halved amongst the households that benefited from the

workshop. The same was the case for the 18% of participants who reported they still wasted some

to quite a lot of fruit, vegetable and salad compared to around half the participants in the pre-

workshop survey.

The majority of participants (77.3%) used the advice and resources we provided them with at the

workshops (figure 6). They fed back positively on the recipes, advice and resources we disseminated.

For example, many made the banana pancakes and Ribollita soup the week after the workshop to

use up fruit and vegetables, and vegetable peelings and herbs were now being used to make

vegetable stock too. Many made use of all our advice and what they learnt at the workshop, for

example how to store and freeze food, with specific repeat examples of freezing excess fruit, herbs,

wine and raw eggs. The participants also reported using of food clips, measurers, food waste and

food storage bags, and labels that we provided them with.

Awareness of LFHW and access to LFWH online resources and smart phone Application

Our pre-workshop survey recorded a good awareness of the LFHW campaign (figure 7) mainly

through social media, other sources (including our contacts list and mailouts) and the internet

(figure 8). At the workshops, it was reported by participants that our marketing contributed to an

increased awareness. The pre-workshop survey also recorded requests for links websites that allow

people to find easy recipes for specific ingredients. At our workshops we disseminated information

on the LFHW website and smart phone application.

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The week after the workshop participants told us they had a better idea on how to access advice and

information on how to save food (91%) (figure 9). But less than half participants reported accessing

the LFHW website and smart phone App we told them about (figure 10). However, many fed back

they were still planning to use these online resources, others had downloaded the App but had not

got around to using it, another fed back that the LFHW twitter feeds were really useful and a

corporate organisation was looking to register for a food waste event as a direct result of this

workshop.

Many participants have already cascaded information on the LFHW campaign and the tips &

resources we provided within their family and social circles. Participants reported sharing awareness

on the issue of food waste and information/advice we provided with between three and over twenty

acquaintances, colleagues and family members. We estimate that it is likely that our LFHW messages

and our tips have reached an additional 160 people. Participants fed back a preference for

participatory events that take a ‘hands on’ approach in helping them reduce food waste. We have

already been contacted by an advisory service asking us to provide a similar workshop to their

audience.

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Lessons Learnt and other feedback

Feedback on workshops

Most of the participants told us they would not change a thing about our workshop but they offered

feedback on what they would like to see covered in future events delivered by us. We would be very

interested in discussing with you how we can take these forward with the support of LFHW.

Obstacles in booking venues

In planning the event we approached around ten different venues with preference to community

halls in Roath and Adamsdown, run by the council and different religious institutions to increase

inclusivity and outreach beyond our existing contact lists.

The main obstacle we came across was the interpretation of fire and health and safety regulations.

For example despite all our assurances, documentation and insurance, one of our preferred venues,

the local authority run Penylan Community Centre, did not accommodate our workshops. We feel

that this is an obstacle that needs to be overcome in the delivery such events as venues such as

Penylan Community Centre are ideal and accessible locations which if used could increase the

outreach and involve individuals, groups and families that would benefit from development of skills

in similar workshops.

In response to fire regulations and health and safety restrictions we adapted our workshop delivery

to switch from gas to electric hobs. This decreased our costs overall and also the risks of running

cooking workshops in indoor enclosed spaces.

LFHW and WRAP support

We would like to thank you for retweeting and sharing some of the information we shared

through social media. We are particularly pleased with the support provided by Jo Tarling and

Natasha Poole, both electronically and in person (through Jo’s participation at the roadshows

and her training to our volunteers).

We think that we would have benefited from further coverage and awareness through further

dissemination of our links and Facebook post of the LFHW_UK Community Facebook Page.

Whilst we tagged the page repeatedly in our posts, and noticed that there was an abundance of

mentioned to the England based roadshows and events, our workshops and blogs were not

mentioned on the page.

Project Media coverage

Our press release was picked up by Wales online, was advertised in Buzz Magazine and was

promoted at various blogs:

http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/anti-food-waste-cafes-pop-up-8316744

(25 shares)

http://www.walesonline.co.uk/whats-on/food-drink-news/sprouts-looking-bit-ropey-learn-

8399730 (94 shares).

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http://foodcardiff.com/pop-food-waste-cafes-cardiff/

http://www.itsoncardiff.co.uk/Popups/index.aspx?FCID=53056

One of our participants’ blogged about the event. In addition to that Lia’ Kitchen and Green City

Events both blogged throughout the campaign to increase dissemination of LFHW messages:

http://lethereatclean.com/2015/02/pop-up-waste-cafe-cardiff/

http://liaskitchen.com/2015/03/07/practice-what-i-preach/ (12 share on Facebook and 15

shares on twitter)

http://liaskitchen.com/2015/02/11/the-savvy-soup-called-ribollita/ (15 shares)

http://liaskitchen.com/2015/02/17/egg-and-banana-pancakes/ (24 shares)

http://www.greencityevents.co.uk/pop-up-food-waste-cafe-photo-blog/

http://www.greencityevents.co.uk/love-food-lias-kitchen/

We invited Media Wales and MADE Cardiff TV to our roadshows and our second workshop on 21

February but unfortunately even though Media Wales was booked at our event they did not turn up.

Lia’s Kitchen Facebook pages LFHW reached out to:

Nearly 1,700 Facebook users through our event posts and tips.

Nearly 750 Facebook users on the day of our Roath roadshow event on 17 January.

Over 500 Facebook users through our recipes, photo blogs and through the blog of our

participant blogger.

Lia’s Kitchen Website was another way in which we raised awareness of the LFHW messages and

projects:

Lia’s Kitchen workshop LFWH events pages were shared over 45 times on Facebook and

twitter.

Lia Kitchen and LFHW related pages and posts were accessed over 600 times in 2015 and at

the end of December 2014.

We commissioned a short video clip which narrates our collaboration in this project and has

documented one of our two workshops. This can be used to demonstrate how cooking workshops

could become a more central aspect of the LFHW campaign across the UK. We aim to use this video

to tell the story of our collaboration with LFHW but to also, hopefully, increase interest in potential

similar events in the future.

Future workshops

We have very positive feedback from the workshops that showed demand for additional events. This

was further evidenced by the number of additional workshop attendance enquiries and people we

could not accommodate at our workshop because of space and delivery limitations.

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This time we also had a restriction in accommodating families and children and should we do more

similar workshops in the future we could consider how to accommodate a child friendly space and

activities that would enable parents with childcare restrictions to join future events.

Lia Moutselou

Lia’s Kitchen , https://liaskitchen.com, liaskitchen@gmail.com, 07870131558