New research from environmental charity Hubbub has revealed 30.43 million pumpkins are expected to be bought for carving in the UK this Halloween, of which 15.82 million won’t be eaten. This is the equivalent of 95 million meals-worth of pumpkins set to go to waste.
The survey of 2,000 UK residents found that of those who celebrate Halloween, more than half (55%) scoop out the pumpkin and carve shapes into the skin. However, the data suggests 1.9 million households in the UK do not enjoy carving pumpkins. A third (33%) of these respondents say it’s because they find it a hassle, while the same proportion of people don’t like the mess it creates.
This month, Hubbub has launched its annual #EatYourPumpkin campaign which calls on Halloween lovers to ditch the knife and give decorating a go. By switching pumpkin carving to decorating, the charity hopes that even more pumpkins will be eaten this Halloween.
Mark Breen, Senior Creative Partner at Hubbub said:
“For ten years we’ve been inspiring the public to eat their pumpkins at Halloween. This year we’re sharing fun ideas to decorate pumpkins instead of carving them, to help them keep for longer and give people more time to cook them. For those who love to carve their masterpiece, don’t forget those carvings make a great addition to a soup or curry.”
“We’re working with food and art influencers to inspire everybody to decorate and then eat pumpkins, which will save food and money. You can get an average of six meals out of a pumpkin. If everyone cooked their Halloween pumpkins, they’d be saving a combined £26.7 million worth of edible food from going to waste!
“To inspire even more people to cook their pumpkins, 100 of our community fridges across the UK will be holding special pumpkin events from community meals, to decorate and cook workshops to make this delicious food go further.”
The #EatYourPumpkin campaign is sharing a range of Halloween-themed content including sustainable activities for kids, pumpkin recipes, alternative pumpkin decorations, and tips on how to save food from going to waste.
Visit www.hubbub.org.uk/eat-your-pumpkin to find out more. #EatYourPumpkin