Feeling strongly about the issue of food waste? Wanna inspire others to reduce food waste at home? This Strategy will assist you in passing the message across. Key messages, a Narrative, activity forms, the principles of Global learning approach – you’ll find all you need in this ready-to-apply legacy document of a successful international initiative.

1. 1
SINCERELY, FOOD
A CAMPAIGN TO ADDRESS HOUSEHOLD FOOD WASTE
IMPLEMENTATION
STRATEGY

2. 2
This publication was produced with the financial support of the European Union. Its contents are the sole
responsibility of Lithuanian Consumer Institute and do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Union.
The publication is part of the project “Global learning approach on food waste in non-formal education”.
© — 2020 — Lithuanian Consumer Institute. All rights reserved. Licensed to the European Union under conditions.
Co-funded by the European Union
www.sincerelyfood.eu

3. 3
CONTENTS
1. Introduction 4
2. Things to do before implementation 5
3. Awareness levels at the start 6
4. Approach: Global Learning 7
5. Objectives 9
6. Target groups 10
7. Stakeholders 11
8. Communication 12
8.1. Name, visual identity and “tone of voice” 12
8.2. Messages 13
9. Tools and activities 18
10. Evaluation 26

4. 4
1
INTRODUCTION
Civil society, including non-governmental organi­
sa­tions, has a proven record of being able to effec­
tively address many issues that remain beyond the
purview of governmental action. One such issue
is food waste, especially consumer food waste
generated in homes.
Vast amounts of food produced for human con­
sump­tion are wasted due to decisions taken by
consumers. Households are responsible for the
largest amount of food waste in the food chain
in European countries.1
It is thus in the hands of
consumers to reverse the situation.
This Implementation Strategy was devised as
part of an awareness raising campaign aimed
at households in 6 countries: Bulgaria, Croatia,
Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Romania. We aim
at positive encouragement of consumers in order
to enable them to take action.2
This Strategy
document is meant to be a ready-to-use tool for
anyone considering an idea of similar campaign or
already involved in activities aimed at reduction of
food waste.
Reduction of food waste begins with changing
atti­tudes towards food consumption, including
1
FUSIONS, Estimates of European food waste levels, 2016, p. 4.
2
UNEP (2014) Prevention and reduction of food and drink waste
in businesses and households - Guidance for governments, local
authorities, businesses and other organisations
food purchasing, food planning, food processing
at home, and food waste management. Named
Sincerely, Food, our campaign is based on a Global
Learning Approach to food waste. Global learning
intends to enable people to understand the links
between their own lives and those of people
throughout the world, e. g.: how does food waste
impact the food security situation in the low
income countries? We believe that the awareness
of the global impacts of food waste can motivate
people to change, our mission being to equip them
with relevant knowledge and instruments.
Sincerely,Food is thus aimed at promoting envi­ron­
mentally and socially responsible decision making
in everything we do, and in practices involving
food in particular. We are not isolated units, but
members of a broader community, and so we need
tobeawareofourinterdependence. Thiscampaign
is also sensitive to people’s economic concerns,
always coupling the globally relevant messages
with reminders of financial costs associated with
food waste.
What has inspired and motivated us to initiate
this campaign is our firm belief that consumers
can improve and change their food-related habits
and share their experience with others, inspiring
them in turn. We are especially eager to get young
people (younger adults) interested in the topic of
food waste reduction, because young people are
our Planet’s future, but also because addressing
food waste today is addressing their future in a
more sustainable world.

5. 5
2
THINGS TO DO BEFORE
IMPLEMENTATION
There are some things that need to be done even
before your awareness campaign gets started, so
that you clearly see your aims and don’t get lost
in day-to-day minutiae, while also ensuring that
there’s a well thought out system in place for asse­
ssing your results and achievements. The following
preparatory steps are therefore prerequisite for a
smooth implementation process:
Defining the current situation (including a
­­­so-called­ “base-line”)
Defining aims
Defining target groups
Choosing topics
Prioritising activities
Creating the campaign’s identity
Choosing information channels
Setting criteria for monitoring the progress
and quality of the campaign
Sony Herdiana / Shutterstock.com

6. 6
3
AWARENESS LEVELS AT
THE START
Sinccerely, Food is a 3-year awareness raising cam­
paign implemented by a 6-partner consortium in
Bulgaria (BG), Croatia (HR), Estonia (EE), Latvia
(LV), Lithuania (LT), and Romania (RO), and led by
the Lithuanian Consumer Institute.
Surveys available at the start of the campaign
showed that awareness concerning food waste was
low in the target countries. Household members
tended to deny the existence or significance of
the problem of food waste. The level of belief
that households could make impact regarding
reduction of food waste in the countries concerned
was rather low (EU average: 76%, LT: 44% [lowest
in all EU], BG: 52%, EE: 62%, LV: 61%, HR: 65%, RO:
67%).3
A survey in 2015 revealed that barely 19% of res­
pon­dents EU-wide considered themselves to have
a personal responsibility in preventing climate
change.4
3
Flash Eurobarometer 425, 2015
4
Special Eurobarometer 435, 2015

7. 7
4
APPROACH:
GLOBAL LEARNING
In its awareness raising activities, Sincerely, Food
makes a point of basing itself on a global learning
approach. Historically, global learning started as
global awareness about helping people in develo­
ping (low-income) countries.5
It has evolved into
various educational approaches that emphasize
the shared responsibility for the global problems
such as food insecurity and climate emergency.
Global learning intends to enable people to under­
stand the links between their own lives and those
of people throughout the world, such as the impact
of food waste on the food security situation and
resource depletion in low income countries.
The design of educational activities and public
events for the Sincerely, Food campaign, especially
those involving younger audiences, is based on the
principles of global education approach that have
proved to be especially effective in engaging an
audience:
participatory and action-oriented learning
relating learning content to real-life situations
learner-centred process based on the needs,
­interests, and expectations of participants.6
In its activities, materials and publications, Since­
rely, Food addresses the following local and global
impacts of food waste:
resource scarcity
environmental degradation
biodiversity loss
global warming/climate emergency
migration and human rights violation
food security and hunger
poverty and inequality
Link to Global Sustainability­and
Food Waste Reduction goals
To give your campaign more weight in terms of
global priorities, it’s extremely important to see its
goals in relation to international efforts on sustai­
nability.
Sincerely, Food hopes to contribute to achieving
the UN Sustainable development goals, as well as
European development cooperation goals.7
This
campaign is also relevant in terms of waste mana­
ge­ment and circular economy priorities.
Specifically, this campaign seeks to contribute to
the SDG 12, aiming at sustainable consumption
and production patterns, by applying the global
learning approach to food waste within non-for-
mal education and equipping target groups with
knowledge, skills and tools, facilitating a shift to
more sustainable consumption patterns with a
view to reducing food waste.
Given the globalization of food supply chains, avoi­­
ding and better managing food waste opens pos-
sibilities for others to consume saved food and/
or resources, thereby contributing to the deve­
lopment of sustainable agriculture – this is what
SDG 2 is about: “end hunger, achieve food security
and improved nutrition and promote sustainable
­agriculture”.
This campaign seeks to enhance its target au­
dien­ces’ knowledge and critical understanding of
5
Lithuanian Consumer Institute (2018)
A global learning approach to food waste in non-formal education
6
Lithuanian Consumer Institute (2018)
7
UN Sustainable development goals

8. 8
the food waste issue, as well as improving their
skills needed to deal with it, thereby contributing
to the mitigation of climate change and related
environmental impacts, including GHGs emissions,
water shortage, soil pollution, and biodiversity
loss, which is the subject of SDG 13 – “combat cli­
ma­te change and its impacts”.
This campaign is also going to contribute to achie­
ving SDG 14 and SDG 15 (sustaining life be­low
­water and on land), because it concerns sus­tai­na­
ble consumption as well as agriculture and bio­di­
ver­sity protection.
8
The Roadmap to a Resource Efficient Europe (COM (2011) 571) is
aimed at more efficient resource consumption. A policy package
“Towards a circular economy: a zero-waste programme for Europe”
(COM/2014/0398 final) aims to reduce food waste by half by 2030, and
to reduce biodegradable waste landfilling overall. Directive 1999/31/
EC on landfills seeks to limit landfilling of biodegradable waste to
35% of the biodegradable waste production (reference year: 1995) by
2016, and in some countries, by 2020. A European Parliament reso­
lution (2017) calls on Member States to take the measures required
to achieve a Union food waste reduction target of 30% by 2025 and
50% by 2030, compared to the 2014 baseline. The Roadmap for a low
carbon economy aims to reduce GHGs by 80-90% in EU by 2050 (EC,
2011). European Consensus on Development “Our world, our dignity,
our future” (2017) responds to global challenges and trends in relation
to sustainable development (SDGs), Paris Climate Agreement, eradi-
cating poverty, reducing vulnerabilities and addressing inequalities.
European Parliament has called on EU to “engage in awareness-raising
and communication campaigns on how to prevent food waste” (2017).
Global learning approach makes our campaign
re­levant also in terms of SDG 4: “Ensure inclusive
and equitable quality education and promote life-
long learning opportunities for all”, emphasizing
the need and the role of education in reaching all
Sustainable development goals.
As well as that, our activities are much in line with
the EU policies in the area of waste reduction and
management as well as in the area of development
cooperation policy.8

9. 9
5
OBJECTIVES
This campaign’s objective is to make it easier
for household(er)s/consumers to buy the right
amount of food and to use it up effectively, thereby
enabling them to prevent and reduce food waste.
It includes:
raising awareness of food waste as well as of
the benefits of its reduction
encourage behaviours which prevent and re-
duce food waste
equip household(er)s with the information,
tools and skills they need9
raising household(er)s’ awareness of the glo­
bal impacts of food waste
Campaign’s overall vision:
Awareness raising on food waste in homes and
on its global implications can eventually result in
reduc­tion of food waste. The final beneficiaries of
improved food waste management include people
in low-income countries.
Core aims:
To improve understanding of the issues of
food waste among target household(er)s and
9
UNEP (2014) Prevention and reduction of food and drink waste
in businesses and households - Guidance for governments, lo­
cal authorities, businesses and other organisations
10
UNEP (2014)
multipliers by reaching out to as many house-
hold(er)s as possible
Establish and develop working partnerships
with organisations and individuals who can
reflect messages in the national media. These
partners should be those that consumers trust
and who can influence consumers.10
These
can include local authorities, other public-­
sector organisations, NGOs and businesses
such as retailers.
Develop and promote tools and guidance to
help consumers reduce waste in the long-term
Sohel Parvez Haque / Shutterstock.com

10. 10
6
TARGET GROUPS
For effective implementation of an awareness
raising campaign, identification and description of
target groups is key.11
Sincerely, Food is aimed at:
Household(er)s
Young people
Education professionals
Households is a crucial target group as they
produce more than half of the food waste.12
Most
of this campaign’s activities and information
materials are tailored to household(er)s’ needs.
However, household is an extremely broad cate­
gory comprising all age groups (including the
elderly and children), professions, incomes levels,
etc. To narrow down the target audience to help the
message to reach its aim, some specific features of
households should be taken into account.
Larger households13
and households with higher
incomes14
have been found to waste more food in
total. However, single person households tend to
waste more per capita; some studies have found
that single women households generate most
avoidable food waste per person.15
Age appears to be negatively correlated with food
waste amounts, as older people tend to waste less
food.16
Surveys indicate that food is more often
wasted in the age group of 15-24.17
Young people
are therefore another specific group to be targeted
by this campaign’s activities, considering also the
fact that young people are future consumers – and
life shapers. Some of the activities planned are
particularly tailored to reach this specific group.
Last but not least, education professionals are a
very important target group, as they can help to
reach and educate young people and households,
i.e. the two other target groups of this campaign,
thereby acting as agents of change. This group
mainly includes teachers employed in formal
education, as well as other educators working in
the non-formal education field.
11
Kivi Leroux Miller, Content Marketing for Nonprofits, 2013
12
FUSIONS, 2016
13
Koivupuro et al., 2012
14
Stancu et al., 16
15
Koivupuro et al. 2012
16
Stefan et al., 2013
17
Secondi et al. 2015

11. 11
7
STAKEHOLDERS
An efficient implementation strategy is not thin­
kable without engagement of interested subjects,
both governmental and non-governmental
organisations, business sector, as well as influen­
cers and media personalities. Working with diffe­
rent stakeholders who can help convey messages
to consumers and households is key to the success
of a ­campaign aimed at wide-range awareness
raising.
Consider this example: interested retailers can
include food waste-themed articles, recipes and
information in their in-house magazines, web-
sites, recipe cards and in-store advertising.18
These
me­dia often have massive reach, with millions
of indivi­duals seeing the information. This also
demonstrates to consumers that businesses are
supporting them and playing their part, making
­action in the household more likely.
To engage educators, one has to consider getting
in touch with teachers’ organisations, associations,
unions, platforms and/or networks.
Civil society organisations working in relevant
­areas­are also highly relevant stakeholders who
could act as project facilitators and multipliers.
Not only educators and civil society organisations,
but also so-called influencers, bloggers, and micro-
celebrities can provide a highly valuable input
affecting project results.
A longer list of potential stakeholders for a food-
waste themed awareness raising campaign like
Sincerely, Food may include:
Associations of households
Teacher associations/organisations
CSOs/NGOs
Business community/Entrepreneurs
Retail chains/Representatives of food chain
Policy makers
State institutions
Academic institutions/Faculty/Student orga­
nisations
Opinion leaders/Influencers, incl. food/green/
lifestyle bloggers
Celebrities/(Social) media personalities
Chefs interested in sustainable consumption
18
UNEP (2014) Prevention and reduction of food and drink waste in
businesses and households - Guidance for governments, local au­­­tho­­­­
r­ities, businesses and other organisations
CRS PHOTO / Shutterstock.com

12. 12
8
COMMUNICATION
8.1.
NAME, VISUAL IDENTITY AND
“TONE OF VOICE”
Effective communication is the heart of any awa­
re­ness campaign.19
The name of this campaign,
Sincerely, Food (strapline: Thank you for saving), is
meant to represent the idea of valuing food (rather
than ‘fighting’ food waste). The name and the logo
of a campaign helps to ensure common branding
and messages supported across the partner ­count­
ries and all campaign activities, which is key to
success.20
The logo of this campaign represents a global
perspective on food waste (a plate with food
resembling the Globe). The vivid colours represent
a modern outlook and a positive attitude, rein­
for­cing the key messages of this campaign that
are positive and enabling, rather than shocking,
negative, or playing on guilt. This campaign uses
consistent, clear and simple messages which have
traction with individuals.
The “tone of voice” for this campaign is defined in
terms of informing and inspiring household(er)s, as
well as providing them with a To Do list.
A campaign’s visual identity needs to be developed
during the first months of its implementation.
It consists of the brand mark (logo), the brand
name, the “strapline”, fonts, colours, etc. The visual
identity elements have to be adapted (localised)
into all national languages in which the campaign’s
activities are to be delivered, and have to be used
consistently in the communication campaigns
of all partners involved, including social media
posts, presentations, websites, education tools,
invitations, press releases and promo items such
as calendars, posters, flags, and games.
“Tone of voice”
Tone of voice is a metaphor describing the way you
talk (communicate) to your target audience. Your
19
Heather Mansfield, Social Media for Social Good: A How-to Guide for
Nonprofits, 2012
20
UNEP (2014) Prevention and reduction of food and drink waste in
businesses and households - Guidance for governments, local author-
ities, businesses and other organisations

13. 13
Messages need to be positive and enabling, ra­ther
than shocking, negative, playing on guilt or repri-
manding in nature.23
The following “ingredients”
are essential to effective messaging:
Facts – to raise awareness and to engage for
action
Guidance – to enable people to have the tools
and information they need to act
Motivations – to make people want to use
guidance to act
An engagement strategy might start with focusing
on “low-hanging fruit”, for example “committed
green middle-class shoppers”, to try to encourage
them to waste less food. Starting this way to get
some “real life examples”, leading to peer-to-peer
adoption of the guidance, has proved to be one
of the most effective ways to get action from con­
sumers.24
Key messages
In a wide-range awareness raising campaign, key
messages is a way of telling a story of a world-
saving mission in a few sentences. They must
therefore be concise and easy to comprehend. Key
tone usually depends on the role you choose to
assume in relation to your audience: for example,
you may want to talk as an “educator” and/or as
a “motivator”, and/or as a “coach”, and/or as a
“colleague”.Thesearesomeoftheessentialtypesof
voice tone, as described in communication theory.
Sincerely, Food aims to:
1. Inform
2. Inspire
3. Provide with a To Do list
In order to sound nice, polite and friendly, one
needs to:
avoid moralizing & criticizing; encourage,
praise and support people for their efforts.21
Here’s an example: “By going less-waste or
zero-waste, you are saving forests from being
cleared and turned into cultivated fields”
always suggest a solution when showing or
talking about a problem
try to always use local examples; always give
concrete examples
use impactful comparisons in order to show
the scale of a problem, e.g.: “The amount
of water used to make 1 kilo of chocolate
amounts to 28 hours of taking shower”
deliver to your target audience home-related
content so that they can identify with the situ-
ation described/visualised in a message/post/
story,includingtheenvironmentandthepeople­
provide space for creativity in all tools and
activities, so that people can contribute as
active participants, as opposed to passive ob-
servers. For instance, in the workshops, show-
ing how to re-use left-overs is not enough –­
some space and time for experimentation and
a creative activity by participants themselves
should be reserved
provide options for or encourage sharing me­
thods discovered by people themselves. For
example, a Facebook post may contain an in-
vitation to share ideas on how to deal with the
situation or behaviour as presented in the post
8.2.
MESSAGES
Critical to success of any awareness campaign is:
Consistent clear and simple messages and ­ac­
tions, which have “traction with indi­vi­duals”22
Sustained communication through a variety
of methods.
Particularly powerful are peer-to-peer messages
delivered by engaged partners acting at a local
level.
Communicationofdifficulttopics,suchastheglobal
impacts of food waste, may present a considerable
challenge. Therefore, it is recommended to:
use simple messages
make it easy for consumers
emphasise valuing our food, not fighting the
waste
Show them the benefit (for instance: the ave­
rage family could be “up to 200 euros better
off every year”)
21
Rachel James, Promoting Sustainable Behaviour: A guide to suc-
cessful communication
22
UNEP (2014) Prevention and reduction of food and drink waste in
businesses and households - Guidance for governments, local author­
ities, businesses and other organisations
23
Rachel James, Promoting Sustainable Behaviour: A guide to suc-
cessful communication
24
UNEP (2014)

14. 14
messages serve to hook up a target audience into
a wider narrative of the campaign (see “Narrative”
below).
To show interlinkage between the key messages
of Sincerely Food, they are presented here in a way
similar to so-called “27/9/3” grid.25
The arrows
indicate reading direction: for key messages, left
to right; for supporting messages, top to bottom.
These key and supporting messages repre­
sent some of the most essential points of this
campaign’s arguments on food waste. Depending
on the occasion and circumstances, the messages
can be mixed and delivered in many different ways
(see a sample presentation of all 12 messages as
a mini-narrative suitable for a short interview, be­
low). Each argument can be expanded upon with
reference to the Narrative of the campaign.
Some of these messages – or all 12 of them – can
be delivered as a mini narrative, for example, in a
short interview – or as an introduction to a broader
conversation – to a media outlet:
[Key messages 1-3]
It takes a lot of time, human work and resources to
produce food. Food is a precious resource. And yet,
lots of good food ends up in a trash bin. More than
a half of food waste EU-wide is generated in homes.
Consumers have therefore a big role to play in
tackling food waste. Each of us and we all together
can make a difference: we can minimise our losses
by using up our food – and avoiding food waste.
[Supporting messages 1-3]
Just consider how much water, energy and human
resources is needed to grow and produce our
everyday food. Food and its waste cost more than
just the money we pay for it. Forests are being
cleared to produce food. Food waste contributes
to the global warming which causes extinction of
animals and plants.
[Supporting messages 4-5]
More food is wasted from homes than from
restaurants or supermarkets. That’s why consu­
mers’ efforts matter. For example, in Denmark,
they managed to curb food waste by ¼ in 5 years.
[Supporting messages 7-9]
Actually, it’s easy to avoid food waste by planning
your food needs. Make a shopping list and stick
to it. Food will stay fresh much longer if we store
it correctly. Most food leftovers can be re-used for
new meals.
[Supporting message 6]
Reduced food waste means saved money, saved
resources, less pollution – and more happy people.
Narrative
Messages “deliver narrative, but they are not the
same.”26
A narrative is what grounds all campaign
communication. And it’s not “just about good guys
and bad guys; [narratives] say something about the
type of world we would like to live in.”27
The narrative helps arrange the campaign’s topics
25
See: A step by step guide to creating great key messages
26
Jeremy Porter, “Why you probably don’t have a narrative”
27
Jeremy Porter, “Why you probably don’t have a narrative”

15. 15
in a way that makes them sound like a “story”. It can
also be viewed as a more extensive presentation of
the key and supporting messages.
The following text is a sample presentation of our
campaign’s narrative.
[Value]
It takes a lot of time, energy, and natural and hu­
man resources to grow and produce food.
[Waste]
Unfortunately, tonnes upon tonnes of food are
grown and produced only to be thrown away.
[Households]
More food is wasted from homes than from restau­
rants or supermarkets.
European households are responsible for more
than half of total food waste in the EU.
[Resources]
Food waste, after all, is waste of the resources that
went into the production of food.
[Water]
We currently use about 70 percent of available
global freshwater to irrigate crops and produce
food. A single burger takes 2,500 litres of water
to produce, with much of that used to irrigate
livestock feed.
Saving water by reducing food waste is critical to
future food and resource security. “As the world
population climbs and water stress spreads around
the globe, finding ways of getting more crop per
drop to meet our food needs is among the most
urgent of challenges.”
[Environment]
Food waste is very damaging to the environment in
KEY MESSAGE 1
Food is a precious resource: it takes a lot of
time, human work and resources to produce it.
KEY MESSAGE 2
Consumers have a big role to play in tackling
food waste: more than a half of food waste
EU-wide is generated in homes.
KEY MESSAGE 3
Each of us and we all together can make a
difference: we can minimise our losses by
using up our food and avoiding food waste.
SUPPORTING MESSAGES SUPPORTING MESSAGES SUPPORTING MESSAGES
Just consider how much water, energy
and human resources is needed to grow
and produce our everyday food.
If we use up all our food and avoid
wasting it, more food can reach more
people globally.
Food and its waste cost more than just
the money we pay for it. Forests are being
cleared to produce food. Food waste
contributes to the global warming which
causes extinction of animals and plants.
More food is wasted from homes than
from restaurants or supermarkets.
Consumers’ efforts matter: say, [Insert
an example; “in Denmark, they managed
to curb food waste by ¼ in 5 years”].
Reduced food waste means saved money,
saved resources, and less pollution.
[Optional: It’s easy to] Avoid food waste
by planning your food needs and by
making a shopping list and sticking to it.
Food will stay fresh much longer if we
store it properly – look for tips & tricks.
Most food leftovers can be ­re-used for
new meals – look for cool recipes.
2. 5. 8.
3. 6. 9.
1. 4. 7.

16. 16
terms of other resources, too. Our food production
systems are resource-demanding and create one
third of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions,
including all the resources spent producing,
transporting, distributing, and storing the food. By
wasting food we are wasting natural resources and
human work.
[Climate]
Food waste contributes a great deal to the climate
change, which causes biodiversity loss (extinction
of plants and animals) as well as climate-caused
migration of people.
Reducing food waste around the world would
help curb emissions of planet-warming gases, and
lessen some of the impacts of climate change, such
as more extreme weather, rising seas and climate
related migration.
[Future]
It’s also about the environment that our (grand)
childrenwillinherit. Addressingfoodwastetodayis
addressing their future in a more sustainable world.
[Sustainability]
The world faces a tremendous challenge: how
to feed a growing world population sustainably,
without degrading our planet’s resources and the
environment. We will need to deliver more food to
the world through using the food we already have
more effectively. Key strategies include reducing
food waste and rethinking our diets.
[Low income countries]
If less food is wasted in high income countries, low
income countries could benefit from the reduced
market pressure, avoiding resource depletion and
other issues that prevent them from solving food
security issues. Ideally, a greater number of poor
people would have access to food. Better managed
food consumption will open possibilities for others
to consume food.
[Vision]
If humanity wasted less food and consumed less
meat and dairy products, as well as using less crops
for feeding animals and biofuel production, and if
farmers increased the productivity of soil, then
millionsofundernourishedpeoplecouldgetaccess
to healthy food without forests being cleared,
prairies going under the plough and swamps being
drained.
[Forests]
In today’s world, to meet the food demand by
rich countries, deforestation is taking place in low
income countries, to free the land for the agro-
industry. Forests are being destroyed to produce
the food that is eventually not consumed.
Reducing food waste can reduce the amount of
produced food, and that will reduce the need to
destroy forest ecosystems.
[Deforestation and virus spread]
Scientistshavesuggestedthatagro-industry-driven
deforestation contributes to the spread of diseases,
specifically, to the spread of coronaviruses.
[Bees, birds]
Pesticides used in food production cause biodi­ver­
sity loss, such as the extinction of birds and insects,
including bees. The more food is produced to be
wasted, the greater is the impact on biodiversity.
[Palm oil, animals]
Consider palm oil: it comes from tropical countries
like Indonesia, Malaysia and parts of Africa. These
countries are clearing thousands of acres of
tropical rainforests to clear the way for palm tree
plantations. Palm oil is exported to high income
countries. European Union currently imports 7.2
million tons of palm oil per year.
When forests are cleared to expand the agricultural
plantations, orangutans and other animals are left
without natural home, facing extinction. If nothing
changes, species like the orangutan could become
extinct in the wild within the next 5–10 years, and
Sumatran tigers, less than 3 years.
The palm oil industry has been linked to major
human rights violations as well, including child
labour.
[Consumer]
In reduction and management of food waste,
consumer attitudes, behaviour, choices and habits
play a crucial role.
[Money]
By creating avoidable food waste we are also was­
ting money. Food waste reduction means reduced
costs for households.
Food waste has a direct and negative impact on the
income of both farmers and consumers.
98 billion EUR per year: this is the cost of food
thrown away from homes in EU.

17. 17
[Planning]
Food waste can be reduced by planning food needs
of the household.
Checking your fridge before shopping helps plan
your food needs.
Shopping more often and buying less per visit is a
good way to avoid food waste.
We can buy exactly the amount we need by opting
for loose fruits, vegetables and other products
instead of prepacked ones.
A portion calculator will do the trick.
[Expiration]
To prevent food waste, a better understanding of
foodexpirationdatesisneeded:thereisadifference
between “Best before” and “Use by”.
[Storage]
To avoid food waste, we need to know how to store
our food, in the fridge and elsewhere, and what the
right temperature for our food is.
[Re-using]
There are countless simple ways to re-use your
leftoversandturningthemintodeliciousfood.Most
leftovers from cooked foods are perfectly edible.
[Irregularly-shaped veggies and fruits]
Fruit and vegetables don’t need perfect looks in
order to taste delicious and be nutritious.
[Composting]
Food waste can be turned into “garden food” by
composting.
[Donating]
By donating food, when/if possible, you help re­
dis­tribute it while it is still consumable. In many
countries, it’s done primarily through food banks,
but other kinds of food sharing initiatives exist as
well.

18. 18
9
TOOLS AND ACTIVITIES
Sincerely, Food’s activities are intended to help
learners augment their ability to envision the
world as one community and to find their role,
responsibility and involvement in coping with
the global issue of food waste. Most activities are
specifically tailored to target young people, who
are going to shape local and global development in
the near future.
Appropriate tools serve the mission of promo­ting
Global Learning Approach to food waste, and help
the campaign to effectively reach out to ­house­
holds.
Research and analysis.
It is very important to base the campaign’s key
messages and approach on evi­dence such as exis­
ting experience, good practice, scientific know­
ledge and case studies.
Academic research provides a basis and framework
for our activities and communication.
E-publication entitled Global learning approach
to food waste in non-formal education: A Study
pro­vides a useful summary of current food waste
definitions, introduces to food waste related cha­
llen­ges, and explains what Global Learning App­
roach is. It provides an overview of the current
food waste situation and food waste reduction
initiatives in 6 partner countries and 19 other
count­ries. The study also covers the impacts on low
income countries of food waste generated in high
income countries.
The principles of Global Learning Approach, as
summarised in the study, are to be integrated in
all campaign activities with a view to facilitating
changes in the areas of understanding, skills, and
attitudes. The campaign action aims at the follo­w­
ing competencies to be developed by the lear­ners
attending the trainings and other events:
thecapacitytothinkgloballyandactlocally,
connecting global issues with everyday life;
to address the economic, environmental
and social impacts of food waste on the local
and global level;
Systems thinking competency: to analyse
complex systems such as global food sys-
tem; to engage and assume active roles, both
locally and globally, to become proactive

19. 19
one’s own values, perceptions, and actions;
and to take a position in the sustainability
discourse.
Self-awareness competency: to reflect on
one’s own role in the local community and
(global) society; to continually evaluate and
further motivate one’s actions; and to deal
with one’s feelings and desires.
Integrated problem-solving competency: to
develop viable solution options that promote
sustainable development.
Existing initiatives and projects on food waste and
related issues, as well as real cases, best practice
examples and global interconnections from the
perspectives of Africa, Asia, Latin America and
­con­t­­­ri­butors to a more just, peaceful, tolerant,
inclusive, secure, and sustainable world;
Anticipatory competency: to create one’s
own visions for the future; to assess the conse­
quences of (one’s) actions;
Normative competency: to understand sus­
tai­nability values, principles, goals, and tar-
gets in a context of uncertain knowledge and
contradictions;
Collaboration competency: to learn from
others; to understand and respect the needs,
perspectives, and actions of others (empathy);
to understand, relate to, and be sensitive to
others;
Critical thinking competency: to question
norms, practices, and opinions; to reflect on
Caribbean, are covered in a separate e-publication
entitled “From developing countries’ perspective:
food waste, interlinkages and initiatives”.
Audio-visual and
infotainment materials.
­(Au­­dio-)Visual material is usually better remem-
bered. As well as that, if this sort of material can be
accessed freely, at any time and from any location,
by all interested parties, it serves as an effective
way of putting your messages across. An obvious
choice of tools for a food waste-themed campaign
is likely to include:
Animations
Video tips
Games
Interactive quizzes
It’s important to make all of them freely accessible
online.
Framed as a series of “Kitchen stories” (animators
Ilja and Danas Bereznickas), Sincerely, Food’s
animations deal with different food waste related
topics:palmoilanddeforestation(Kitchenstories:­
The Forest); water waste (Kitchen stories: Water);
and bees and pesticides (Kitchen Stories: The
bees). Each animation addresses food waste in
relation to a global issue, based on the Narrative of
our campaign (see “Narrative” above). Animations
are great presentation tools for many activities,
including trainings.
A food waste-themed video game, Everyday Hero,

20. 20
features messages on the global impacts of food
waste as well as food waste prevention tips. This is
an endless runner game to be played on all sorts of
screens, including mobile devices. You are invited
to choose a “mission” (saving food); in the process
of the gameplay you may earn additional scores
by reading messages on the global impacts of food
waste. You continuously “run” through the game
until an obstacle stops you, with the point being
to achieve the highest possible score. Its simple
controls make it accessible to virtually anyone.
Infotainment games help promote the campaign’s
key messages during public events. Sincerely,
Food’s infotainment collection includes:
Tomato’s Journey gamifies the idea of the life
cycle of a product and avoidable food loss. It
features two connected boards perforated by
“waste holes”: the players have to bring the
tomato (a ball) to the “consumer’s mouth”
by manipulating two handles while avoiding
“waste holes” on their way.
Best Before deals with the two types of food
product expiration dates, helping consumers
see the difference between them in order to
reduce household food waste. The player has
to hang pictures on the board according to the
products’ expiration dates.
Kitchen Fortune features a big wheel with
several types of questions on it (defining key
words,globalfacts,consumerbehaviour,etc.),
modelled after the “wheel of fortune”. The
player spins it to be challenged by a question
at which the wheel’s arrow stops.
Happy Fridge gamifies the idea of proper
storage of food at home. The player has to put
“products” in the fridge, deciding which area
of the fridge the product needs to be placed to
in order to store it properly.
Wasteless Bingo introduces the players to
the main topics of Sincerely, Food, including
the water footprint of food products, local
and global facts about food waste, the
environmental and social impacts of food
waste, as well as ways to reduce avoidable
food waste. The game moderator announces
questions, and the players have to mark off
correct answers in a grid each gets, the winner
being the first person to mark off all the
answers in a grid.
Grocery Memory is a mini relay race and me­
mo­ry game promoting the use of a grocery
shopping list to reduce household food waste.
Two teams or at least two players compete
to out-pace each other memorising a grocery
shopping list and bringing their groceries
“home”.
Rescue Ring is a ring toss game challenging
the players’ skills and habits of dealing with
foodathome.Twoteamsoratleasttwoplayers
“earn” a “rescue ring” by answering questions
about preventing food waste at home. They
compete by tossing the rings around “food
products” (pegs with food replicas attached),
representing food rescuing efforts.
Wasteless Jenga is the classic Jenga, but with
a twist: players take turns removing blocks,
but there are also food themed questions
attached to the blocks. A player has to answer
up to 5 questions to win a prize.
Wet Game is about the water footprint of food
products, the message being that food waste
means wasted water. The player has to match
product pictures with different amounts of
water (pictured on cards) needed to produce
those products by hanging the pictures on the
board.
Games are indispensable as part of infotainment
activities offered during summer festivals and
in tournaments at summer camps, as well as
during simulation-based trainings in schools.
Infotainment games have proved their universal
appeal with all kinds of audiences. They serve as
an effective tool to summarise some of the points
of Global Learning, and target such competencies
as the ability to analyse complex systems such as
global food system and to address the economic,
environmental and social impacts of food waste on
the local and global level.
Sincerely, Food’s interactive quizzes deal with the
issues of food waste at home and its glo­bal impacts
and feature interactive aspects, such as animated
elements. The quiz entitled Banana Journey
targets children but is suitable to grownups as well.
All questions in this quiz deal with bananas and
mostly concern everyday food consumption habits.
Another quiz, Changing climate in your kitchen,
targets young adults and adults and deals with
everyday situations involving food. The quiz The
hidden side of food is aimed at a young adult and
adult audience and deals with the global impacts
of food waste.

21. 21
Printed material.
Educators, elderly household members, and tea­
chers usually prefer to have some material printed,
even if it is available online. Printed materials also
help increase the visibility of the campaign during
and after its events (e.g. debates or trainings).
Sincerely, Food’s list of printed materials includes:
Notebooks
Handbooks
Trainers’ guide
Sincerely, Food’s Notebook features useful tips
on how to reduce the amount of food that goes
uneaten, along with some facts showing why food
waste is a serious issue, as well as some space for
reader’s own notes. It is entitled Sincerely, Food: A
Mindful Foodie’s Notebook.
Sincerely, Food’s Handbook offers a more in-depth
presentation of food waste issues, if compared to
Notebook. Entitled SINCERELY, FOOD: A useful
little book about food waste and how to avoid it, it
is complete with infographics and illustrations and
deals with the global consequences of food waste
and consumers’ role in addressing this global issue.
Training, workshops and labs.
Face to face trainings and workshops is still one
of the best ways to provide basic information
or conduct skill building classes, but also to get
imme­diate feedback, to have live discussions, to
Sincerely, Food’s video tips will help consumers to
improve their understanding and management of
food waste reduction in households and change
their attitude, targeting 4 interrelated groups of
competences: shopping, storage, freezing and
managing leftovers. Each food waste reduction tip
isintroducedbyashortinfo-graphicanimationthat
outlines a global context of the issue. Video tips are
of use during trainings and may be promoted via
social media channels, contributing to learners’
understanding of the values of sustainability and
their role as consumers, as prompted by Sincerely,
Food’s global learning approach.
Interactive presentations are indispensable du­
ring trainings, such as those involving “multi­
plier” audiences (e.g. school teachers or NGOs).
Presentations serve to provide a broad pic­ture
of the food waste topic, summarising facts and
sourcesandtargetingalltherelevantcompetencies
as prompted by a global learning approach,
inclu­ding the ability to address the economic,
environmental and social impacts of food waste
on the local and global level; to analyse complex
systems such as global food system; to assess
the consequences of actions; to create one’s own
visions for the future; to understand, relate to,
and be sensitive to other people; to understand
sustainability values, principles, goals, and targets,
as well as a call to action. The presentations’ design
has to be consistent with the branding palette of
the campaign.

22. 22
attendees are introduced to the key messa­
ges of the campaign; the economic, social
and envi­ron­mental impacts of food waste;
SDGs and EU’s Circular economy package; as
well as to Sincerely, Food’s Global Learning
­approach. The role of consumers/households
is discussed and consumer tips shared. The
activityalsoincludesteamworkandmultiplier
tips on how to raise awareness about the glo­
bal impacts of food waste. Participants of the
trai­­nings may include teachers, members
of CSOs working in the areas of consumer
rights, development cooperation issues and
envi­ronmental protection, as well as active
mem­bers of parish communities, housing
associations etc. Also, volunteers may be
trai­­­ned as multipliers. Volunteers-turned-
multipliers might become an indispensable
part of the cam­paign’s presence as an info­
tainment spot at mass events.
Digital storytelling workshops: the idea of
this activity is to offer the participants an op-
portunity to improve their video editing skills
while also increasing their awareness of food
waste at home and its global implications.
Video stories are created using freely available
software. The practical part includes filming
and editing a video with added text messa­
ges. Learners work in teams, taking advantage
of lecturers’ advice, who help them to sketch
scripts for their stories and edit their videos.
Food labs “Cook your way to global under­
stan­ding”. Food labs may take place in
venues such as culinary studios and as part
organisations interested in hosting the train-
ings that respond to a call for expression of
interest, as well as in places that the cam-
paign partners reach out to proactively. The
trainings feature interactive elements such
as live audience polling and presentations, as
well as “practical” assignments such as “Plan
your meals for 2 days”. Thematically, they co­
ver topics such as food waste management at
home (tips) and the ways food waste affects
the environment, biodiversity and climate
change. Audience feedback has to be collec­
ted at the end of each session and to be used
for further tailoring of the content of training.
Simulation-based trainings provide partici­
pants with an opportunity to explore realistic
situations by interacting between each other
in order to develop various skills and test dif-
ferent strategies in a gamified environment.
Learners get acquainted with many aspects
of the long process whereby a product, e.g.
a tomato, turn into a processed food such
as ketchup; they try to identify the causes of
food waste and are challenged with assign-
ments to think of possible solutions. Gamified
elements include team competition, quizzes,
a physical skill game and prizes to incentivise
team competition. Interdisciplinary in its ap-
proach (integrating maths, geography, social
science, natural studies, etc.), the activity is
particularly suitable for non-formal education
curricula.
Multipliers’ trainings follow the script laid
out in the Trainers’ guide (see above). The
start networ­king, to test tools and to help learners
gain practical skill, as well as answering questions,
especially in activities involving multipliers.
Curriculum for multipliers. Sincerely, Food’s
curriculum defines expected learning out­
comes to be achieved by those who are going
to “multiply” key messages and activities of
Sincerely, Food, as well as topics and methods
to be used by trainers. It covers food waste
definitions, the global economic, social and
environmental impacts associated with food
waste, as well as possible ways of addressing
this global issue. It also focuses on the skills
needed for effective campaigning and “mul-
tiplier” activities. The curriculum serves as a
basis for Trainers’ guide (see below) and In-
teractive presentations aimed at facilitating
critical reflection on the role of consumers’
lifestyles and on households’ role in reducing
food waste.
Trainers’ guide presents an easy instruction
for the campaign partners and selected mul-
tipliers. It offers tips and options on how to
engage and instruct target audiences in order
to promote relevant competencies, particular-
ly the ability to address the economic, envi­
ronmental and social impacts of food waste;
to reflect upon one’s contribution to a more
sustainable and waste-less world; and, above
all, the ability to think critically, questioning
norms, practices, and opinions.
Trainings in working places. Food waste-
themed trainings in working places may take
place in private and public companies and

23. 23
of outdoor festivals. Diverse audiences are
introduced to the global implications of food
waste and invited to get involved in food
prepping under guidance of well-seasoned
chefs. Thematically, the emphasis may be put
on using up the food, re-using leftover food,
smart portioning and storing the food to the
best effect possible, while also explaining
the global impacts of food consumption
and waste. The menu may feature different
courses, including soups and desserts. Photo
galleries from the labs tend to generate lots of
visitor engagement on social media.
Public events and infotainment.
Tournaments,debatesandinteractiveinfotainment
at festivals and food labs are activities with a huge
potential to engage and involve a wider public,
providing valuable opportunity to raise public
awareness on global issues associated with food
waste and to encourage food waste reduction
efforts. Active participation in playful assignments
is an experience that leaves a lasting impression
on those involved, thus having a greater impact
on attitude change than more passive forms of
participation.
National and EU debates for youth leaders.
“Should we be punished for wasting food?” –
a controversial framing like this may attract a
wider public’s curiosity, providing socially en-
gaged youth with an opportunity to raise their
community’s awareness of the issue and to
debate possible solutions. The best debaters
advance to the next stage, i.e. European de-
bates in English.
Interactive infotainment at festivals. Peo-
ple love infotainment! Outdoor events such
as musical festivals and discussion events
provide a great opportunity to be present
and visible as an awareness campaign. A tent
complete with Sincerely, Food visuals is an ob-
vious way of organising activities such as in-
fotainment games, “black banana” ice-cream
prepping sessions, or “Disco soup”. Visitor
in­volvement and engagement may be incen-
tivised by offering prizes such as T-shirts and
totes complete with Sincerely, Food logo and
hashtags. You need to seize on every opportu-
nity to increase the campaign’s visibility in the
public eye. One such oppor­tu­nity is provided
by annual events such as musical festivals
and other kinds of summer festivals. Events to
consider: pop music fests, folk music events,
discussion/ideas festivals. Each game has to
have its own “narrative” to be told by a team

24. 24
member, including volunteers. Volunteer help
is indispensable in this type of events.
Tournaments in communities. Tournaments
may be organized in places such as school
summer camps. Participants are invited to
play food waste themed games, compete in
food waste themed relay races, answer quiz
questions, and try other interactive infotain-
ment activities, competing between each
other for scores, medals and prizes while also
increasing their awareness of household food
waste. Games to consider (see “Audio-visu-
al and infotainment materials” above): food
waste–themed Jenga games, Question Wheel,
Ring Toss, memory games, relay races, Bin-
go and others that serve to cover all relevant
topics of the campaign, including the global
impacts of food waste, shopping, storage, and
re-using leftovers.
Food waste–themed installations. Concepts
to consider: a movable oven; an ice sculpture;
a poster containing a QR (Quick Response)
code. Accompanied by promo items such as
roll-outs and hand-outs, the movable oven,
along with a tent branded by Sincerely, Food
visuals, may be presented at a national food
­festival. An ice sculpture – a transparent hu-
man figure containing a(n image of) food
product and standing on a “globe” covered in
­“waste” – may be installed in a thematic ex-
hibit of the Sincerely, Food campaign during
an annual food and drinks industry expo.
Complete with factsheets about the global
food waste issue and supplemented by info-
tainment activities, such an installation may
help attract the interest of many thousands of
visitors of an exhi­bit. Paper posters contain-
ing a QR code may be distributed to schools,
where they are to be exhibited in spaces with
a high potential of attracting the attention of
pupils and visitors.
Public Relations, media work and
third-party events.
To attract coverage by all kinds of media, including
newspapers, radio and television, and internet
news portals, different ways of soliciting media
attention are to be considered, such as “Media
breakfast” featuring a locally famous chef or
special publications addressing household food
waste during seasonal holidays.
Sincerely, Food’s publicity agenda includes:
1. Panels with stakeholders: face to face talks,
presenting ideas, public commitment
2. Media work (articles or/and media appea­
rances) / Media relations
3. Contributing to third-party events such as
confe­rences
Stakeholder panels. This is where invol­­­v­e­
ment and support of as many stakeholders
as possible is negotiated and ensured,
including forms of financial support as well as
dissemination of the campaign key messages,
information and products. The meetings may
be attended by a wide range of stakeholders,
includingmembersofacademiccommunities,
NGOs, State institutions working in the areas
relatedtofoodwaste,aswellasrepresentatives
of retail sector, manufacturers, family farms,
and the media. The feedback received from
the stakeholders is to be used to prioritize
topics, to adjust the content of activities and
to assess the effectiveness of activities. The
panelsprovidetheorganisersandparticipants
with opportunities to network with a view to
promoting food waste awareness. Topics to be
coveredduringthePanelmeetingsandfollow-
up communication include: multi-stakeholder
research projects, food waste–themed publi­
cations and installations, utilising retail
spa­­­ces for food waste–themed messages
and activities, etc. The global dimension of
food waste has to be emphasised to engage
stakeholders with ambitious corporate social
responsibility aims.
Social media campaign. Partners’ social me-
dia accounts serve as the primary tool to keep
the target audiences updated and engaged.
Reach and engagement indicators have to be
regularly discussed among the partners to see
if each respective national campaign is effec-
tive enough to reach the set goals.
Third-party events. To increase the cam­
paign’s visibility in the public eye, one has to
consider attending all kinds of public events
that may provide an opportunity to promote
the key messages of the initiative and the
campaign. Event types to consider: school
events; World Consumer Rights Day and ­other
consumer-centred activities; Development

25. 25
Cooperation–themed events; Earth Week acti­
vities; Zero Waste–themed events; ve­gan food
festivals; nutritionists’ events; rural commu-
nity–themed events; climate–themed events;
lifestyle–themed events (and media); youth
forums, etc.
Conferences.
This activity is a kind of a category in itself! Sincere­
ly, Food’s international conference on Food waste
at home and ways to address it was held in Vil­
nius, Lithuania, on the 10th of April, 2018, featur-
ing authoritative international speakers (FAO, EU,
EUFIC, Wageningen University, Malmö Municipali-
ty, Netherlands Nutrition Centre). The conference
helped to emphasise the urgency of the problem
of household food waste and the relevance of our
initiative and campaign. The event was a success,
attracting an extensive coverage by the national
and local media. For our second conference, we re-
served topics such as food waste as a climate issue,
policies against consumer food waste, “from food
consumer to food citizen”, data gaps concerning
household food waste in the EU, and innovations
addressing food waste. Additional activity to con-
sider as part of a conference: treat your audience
to some “disco food” (referencing the “Disco Soup”
movement).
Campaign websites.
Partner websites in national languages and the
main website in English have been indispensable
as the main focal points where all the campaign-
related products and updates can be accessed via
several clicks, in addition to updates on the social
media. The main website features the campaign’s
key messages, a concise introduction to the ideas
and aims of the Initiative, as well as a dynamic
section for updates and events. Special sections
feature tips and tricks for consumers eager to
reduce food waste. The Publications section
features all the publications produced so far, free
to download. All the audio-visual products, such
as animations, videos, quizzes and the game, are
easily accessible from here as well.
Promo items.
An absolute must! Sincerely, Food’s collection
features T-shirts, bags (totes), aprons, pens and
other gadgets with the colourful campaign logo,
hashtags and/or key messages. Other items to
consider include: food (waste)–themed calendars;
colourful magnets to adorn the fridge at home.
From all tools, bags have proved their universal
appeal: Eco-labelled bags featuring the Sincerely,
Food brand provide a sustainable way to promote
the ideas and the key message of the campaign
long-term.

26. 26
10
EVALUATION
Each partner is responsible for the evaluation of
the progress on the national level, while the Lead
Partner is responsible for collection and summa­­ri­
sing of the results.
Unified questionnaires to be filled in by target
audiences and stakeholders are to be used to
get feedback and in order to see how the acti­
vity at question has affected the level of know­
ledge and awareness of the audience concerned,
and ­whether they are going to apply the acquired
­competencies in their daily routines involving food.
The questionnaires are to be distributed at the
end of each event. Summed up, answers to these
questionnaires enable to map the impact of the
action and response to it, prompting the campaign
to ­introduce changes if needed.
Evaluation using questionnaires is supported by
monitoring of the coverage of events and other
project activities in the press and social media.
The monitoring of the content of press articles
and ­social media supplies quantitative indicators
(number of articles, posts), as well as providing
­insight into target groups/stakeholders’ response.
The external final evaluation is to be carried out
at the end of the campaign to assess the relevance,
effectiveness, efficiency, impact and sustainability
of the action. Three external financial audits have
to be performed and presented along with the
­reports.

27. 27
www.sincerelyfood.eu