New
New
Year 4

Reducing food waste

I can list ways to reduce food waste when cooking.

New
New
Year 4

Reducing food waste

I can list ways to reduce food waste when cooking.

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Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. A lot of food that could have been eaten is wasted for different reasons. 
  2. In the UK, 60% of food waste is from our homes, on average around 8 meals a week are thrown away in each home.
  3. Food waste can be reduced by planning ahead, storing correctly, and cooking and eating everything.
  4. Food waste can be used for compost, such as fruit and vegetable peelings, egg shells and tea bags.

Keywords

  • Food waste - food that is intended to be eaten but is lost or wasted

  • Home - the place where people live

  • Food storage - keeping food safe to eat, for example in a cupboard, fridge or freezer

  • Compost - decayed food and vegetables used for growing plants

Common misconception

Food waste happens mostly outside the home.

Food waste happens mostly inside the home - around 60%.


To help you plan your year 4 cooking and nutrition lesson on: Reducing food waste, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...

Although food waste is a global issue, focus on how pupils can reduce food waste. Look at the examples in the lesson and ask pupils how they could tackle food waste at home and school.
Teacher tip

Equipment

Licence

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2025), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).

Lesson video

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6 Questions

Q1.
Is this food usually grown, reared or caught?
An image in a quiz
grown
reared
Correct answer: caught
Q2.
Where do these foods from come? Match their origin.
Correct Answer:milk,dairy cow

dairy cow

Correct Answer:bread,wheat plant

wheat plant

Correct Answer:orange juice,orange tree

orange tree

Correct Answer:fries,potato plant

potato plant

Q3.
To help buy only what you need, you could ...
go to the shops early.
Correct answer: write a shopping list.
cook the meals in advance.
Q4.
Match the foods to where they should be stored:
Correct Answer:canned tomatoes and sweetcorn,cupboard

cupboard

Correct Answer:cheese and hummus,fridge

fridge

Correct Answer:frozen peas and fish fingers,freezer

freezer

Q5.
What is this called?
An image in a quiz
a recycling bin
Correct answer: a compost bin
a glass bottle bank bin
Q6.
Food waste is ...
food that is intended to be eaten and saved.
food that is intended to be wasted but eaten.
Correct answer: food that is intended to be eaten but wasted.

5 Questions

Q1.
Homes around the world waste over ...
one thousand meals every day.
one million meals every day.
Correct answer: one billion meals every day.
Q2.
Where does food waste happen the most?
On the farm
In a supermarket
In a cafe
Correct answer: In the home
Q3.
True or false? Food waste can be reduced by buying loose fruit and vegetables.
Correct answer: True
False
Q4.
Match the following food waste tips:
Correct Answer:use leftovers to ...,make other meals.

make other meals.

Correct Answer:store foods correctly ...,to help the food stay safe to eat for as long as possible.

to help the food stay safe to eat for as long as possible.

Correct Answer:plan meals and snacks to ...,help stop overbuying.

help stop overbuying.

Correct Answer:don’t serve too much food ...,as people might leave it.

as people might leave it.

Q5.
Food waste can be used for , such as fruit and vegetable peelings, egg shells and tea bags.
Correct Answer: compost, composting