Poles throw away PLN 3,000 a year. “The Vegetable Salad Paradox”
Every second Pole declares that they will try not to waste Easter food. The main motivation is higher food prices, but also the growing awareness of the problem.
The Opinia24 study for Too Good To Go (a company dealing with reducing food waste) shows that 37 percent Poles will prepare more food than needed for two days of Easter. This is clearly less than in the previous edition of the study four years ago, when the percentage was 54%.
Inflation motivates us not to waste food
Almost half of respondents (49%) declare that during this year’s holidays they will pay more attention to not wasting food than last Easter. The main motivation is higher food prices (50%), but awareness of food waste is becoming more and more important. 46 percent respondents admit that greater knowledge about food waste encourages them to make more responsible choices.
– Although tradition still often triumphs over real needs, positive changes in planning holiday meals are already visible. This is the result not only of rising prices, but also of many years of educational activities, which is great. This is a signal that consumer awareness is growing, and translating it into everyday decisions is becoming crucial – not only during the holidays – comments Anna Podkowińska-Tretyn, Country Director of Too Good To Go in Poland and the Czech Republic.
Despite the growing awareness in this area, many of us still prepare too large portions. In this aspect, one of the most popular holiday dishes dominates, i.e. vegetable salad (among those who throw away food after the holidays, it received as many as 62% of votes).
The vegetable salad paradox
The authors of the study indicate that we are dealing with the “vegetable salad paradox.” On the one hand, it is one of the most frequently prepared Easter dishes (it appears in 90% of Polish homes), and at the same time it is the dish most often thrown away after the holidays. This discrepancy is mainly due to the size of the prepared portions – half of the respondents admit that they eat vegetable salad in small or symbolic quantities, and 19 percent he thinks that too much is being prepared. Meanwhile, tradition dictates preparing a large bowl of salad. It is the excess that causes some dishes to end up in the trash later.
Every year, 4.6 million tons of food are wasted in Poland, most of which (60%) in our homes. It is estimated that each household in Poland loses approximately PLN 3,000 annually due to food waste.
