Find out why food waste is bad for the planet

Torriano Primary School, Friday, 30 January 2026
35 points 420 pupils Explorer KS2, KS3, KS4

We had an assembly on food waste with North London Waste Authority
This week, children took part in assemblies focused on reducing food waste, delivered by In the Know, a North London Waste Authority project. The sessions helped children understand why it is important not to waste food and encouraged thoughtful habits at lunchtime, such as choosing appropriate portion sizes and eating what is on their plates.Terri, our school chef, even joined the Key Stage 1 assembly and was delighted to hear how committed the children were to reducing food waste. We certainly saw the impact straight away — food waste levels dropped significantly at lunchtime, even on Fish and Chips Friday! Let's keep it up next week!

Activity description

Did you know that food waste is one of the greatest sources of greenhouse gases?

Or that primary and secondary schools in the UK waste over 80,000 tonnes of food every year (that's the same as 8000 blue whales).

Tackling food waste in your school is a great way to cut your carbon emissions! This linked presentation provides an overview of why food waste is such a huge environmental problem. It can be run either as a one hour activity for an eco club or teachers can use the linked worksheets for 2-3 sessions of class work.