- Circular Economy Minister Mary Creagh joined WRAP for a discussion on food waste in the UK
Refettorio Felix is a drop-in centre and community kitchen serving vulnerable people in the Earl’s Court area. Its open-door policy welcomes anyone struggling with homelessness, loneliness, substance abuse and mental health difficulties. Guests enjoy a three-course lunch made from redistributed ingredients supplied by The Felix Project, and prepared by volunteers.
To mark Food Waste Action Week 2025, campaign ambassador and low-waste-chef Max La Manna volunteered for a day in the kitchen. Max was joined by members of the Love Food Hate Waste team to create a menu made solely from surplus fresh food that would otherwise have gone to waste. The early morning food delivery was donated by the Felix Project from local shops and inspired a menu of carrot and potato fritters, creamy broccoli and pea pasta and a carrot cake and crème fraiche dessert.
Jackie Bailey, Senior Campaign Manager, Love Food Hate Waste, said “We were privileged to be able to help the amazing staff at Refettorio Felix today. What they do is so important in giving a lifeline to people, and a hot meal. Today just further brought home the absurdity of the amount of food we waste in our homes, particularly when so much waste can be prevented. We need our shops to offer more loose produce so we only buy as much as we can use, as buying large packs of fruit and veg is resulting in huge amounts of food waste in our bins.”
Love Food Hate Waste estimates that fruit and vegetable waste from UK households currently tops 2.5 million tonnes per year, of which 1.7 million tonnes could have been eaten, costing £4 billion.
Grace McEvedy, Events and Marketing Manager South Cuthbert Centre said "For us, food is at the heart of everything we do. Every day, we breathe new life into surplus produce and transform it into something new, not just meals, but moments of connection and care. It’s always amazing to welcome passionate people like Max and the Love Food Hate Waste team into the kitchen and to see their creativity overflowing in their menus. Whether it’s our regular volunteers or guest chefs, the energy and love poured into each meal is really something special and means we can make sure food feeds people, instead of going to waste.”
Circular Economy Minister Mary Creagh joined Max and Estelle Herszenhorn – Head of Food System Transformation at WRAP – for a panel to discuss food waste in the UK.
The panel discussed ways to reduce food waste in the home, including the benefits of buying fresh produce loose, storing most fruit and vegetables in the fridge to extend shelf life by weeks, and getting portions right by using the Love Food Hate Waste portion calculator tool. The talk covered the economics of food waste, which currently costs an average household of four around £90 per month - or £1,000 every year.
Minister Creagh highlighted that incoming mandatory food waste collections under Simpler Recycling will help to prevent food waste from going to landfill or incineration and instead be recycled. It will also act as an awareness raising measure by showing the reality of how much food waste arises in our individual kitchens.
Circular Economy Minister Mary Creagh said, “Farmers work tirelessly to put food on our nation’s tables - so it is absurd that households are throwing away £1,000 a year in food that could have been eaten. Food Waste Action Week is vital for raising awareness and encouraging people to only buy the fruit and veg they need, use what they buy, save money, and slash food waste. Through our £15 million food surplus fund, food producers, charities and government are working together to ensure more produce gets to those who need it most.”
Charlotte Hill OBE, CEO of The Felix Project said: “Food waste is a huge issue, not only does it cause catastrophic environmental damage it is also a social tragedy when so many people are struggling to afford to buy a healthy balanced diet. Whilst The Felix Project does not rescue food waste from homes, we know how big the problem is and welcomes initiatives, like this event at one of our incredible community organisations with Love Food Hate Waste and Max La Manna, that aim to raise more awareness of food waste and encourage people to do what they can to reduce it.”
Love Food Hate Waste’s recent Household Food Management Survey found that on a per capita basis, 27% of UK citizens now classify as ‘higher’ food wasters. In addition, the campaign found a disparity between people’s perception of their own waste and the reality with nearly 8 out of 10 interviewees believing they waste less than the average.
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Notes to Editor
Food Waste Action Week is the annual event delivered by WRAP’s Love Food Hate Waste brand and the focus this year was ‘Buy loose, waste less’ – the campaign brought to life the reality of just how much pre-packaged fruit and vegetables end up in the bin. Each year in UK homes 510,000 tonnes of potatoes are binned representing 46% of all potatoes bought and 60,000 tonnes of food waste could be prevented if all apples, potatoes and bananas were sold loose, representing 8.2 million shopping baskets’ worth of food.
WRAP is a global environmental action NGO catalysing policy makers, businesses and individuals to transform the systems that create our food, textiles and manufactured products. Together these account for nearly 50% of global greenhouse emissions. Our goal is to enable the world to transition from the old take-make-dispose model of production to more sustainable approaches that will radically reduce waste and carbon emissions from everyday products. To do so we examine sustainability challenges through the lens of people’s day-to-day lives and create solutions that can transform entire systems to benefit the planet, nature and people.
Our work includes: UK Plastics Pact, UK Food and Drink Pact, Textiles 2030 and the campaigns Love Food Hate Waste and Recycle Now. We run Food Waste Action Week and Recycle Week.
Please contact: wrap.ngo