4 in 10 Irish adults concerned about the amount of food waste by their family

Nearly four in 10 Irish adults are concerned about the amount of food waste by their family, with people in Dublin and Munster most concerned.

New research by Amárach to mark AIB extending its partnership with FoodCloud shows that over a third of the public feel they waste more food since Covid-19 restrictions began.

The research, conducted by AIB and social enterprise FoodCloud in February 2021, shows 37% of respondents feel they are wasting more food than before the pandemic, even though eight in 10 people surveyed claim to be taking action to reduce their food waste.

Two-thirds of the 1,000 surveyed indicated they had an awareness of the connection between food waste and climate change, with 80% of people in Ireland keen to learn more about how to avoid wasting food.

People in Dublin and Munster most concerned

All over Ireland, people are “deeply aware” of climate change, with 97% saying they are feeling the effects of climate change on their day-to-day lives.

In a bid to help tackle the environmental issue of food waste and to support local communities across Ireland, AIB has renewed its partnership with FoodCloud for another three years, investing €1.5 million to support the social enterprise’s 2021 to 2023 strategy.

During the last three-year partnership, 6,300t of surplus food was distributed – the equivalent of 15.1 million meals and 20,353t of CO2eq avoided.

According to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, food waste is responsible for 8% of global greenhouse gas emissions.

According to Project Drawdown, an international research project on mitigating climate change, stopping food waste has been recognised as the number one individual solution to reversing global warming, closely followed by health, education and plant-rich diets.