Food going off before it can be finished and before ‘use by’ and ‘best before dates’ are the top reasons for food waste. Bread, leftovers and fruit and vegetables are listed as the top three most wasted items.
To drive home how the message of why food needs to be eaten before it gets thrown out, the apple has been given a mouldy exterior made of faux fur, as a reminder to eat food that’s closer to going off or it’s use by date, first.
The apple is approximately 1.4-metres high and 1-metre wide and mounted on a metal base. In total, it will weigh 90kg!
The Eat Me First campaign also offers practical solutions including Eat Me First reusable stickers — a visual prompt to remind people of food that needs to be eaten first. The sticker is a simple and effective tool to reduce waste. By noting and eating food that has been left-over from another meal or opened and left uneaten, people could save upwards of $1,510 a year, according to Love Food Hate Waste NZ.
Stickers are available for free until the end of May 2024. They can be ordered from the Love Food Hate Waste NZ website or picked up from selected local libraries and community centres in Pōneke, and in selected Woolworths stores around the country while stocks last.
Kaicycle will also have an information stall next to the apple at the Harbourside Market on Sunday 26 May. Come down and check out the apple, collect an Eat Me First sticker and get some tips and tricks to save money on your grocery bill and make your food last longer.
Food Waste facts
- The average Wellingtonian throws out 3.2kg of food per week, which adds up to 30,000 tonnes of food scraps going to landfill each year, the same weight as 62 jumbo jets!
- Wellingtonians spend almost $600 a year per household on uneaten food that goes to landfill.
- More than $543 million worth of fruit, vegetables and meat from Kiwi households every year.
- $62 Million worth of bread from Kiwi households every year.
- $290 million worth of fruit and vegetables from Kiwi households every year.
- $191 million worth of meat from Kiwi households every year.
- Food waste accounts for approximately 409,000 tonnes of carbon emissions in New Zealand annually.
Find more simple hacks and tricks to make the most of your food by heading to the Love Food Hate Waste NZ website.