In spring 2025, the Wasteless programme launched its first national story writing competition, “A Bite-Sized Tale: Wasteless Stories”, with the award ceremony held in October.
The initiative invited children and teenagers to create stories about responsible food use and preventing food waste. The contest received 125 entries from primary and secondary students across Hungary, showing strong creativity and engagement with sustainability.
The award ceremony was held on 16 October 2025 at the National Food Chain Safety Office (Nébih) in Budapest, coinciding with World Food Day. During the event, the story collection featuring the best entries was officially presented.
The story writing competition was one of the main youth-focused activities of the Wasteless programme this year, which has been working since 2016 to raise awareness of food waste prevention among young people. Food waste remains a major challenge in Hungary, with nearly 810,000 tonnes generated annually, mostly in households. An average Hungarian discards 59.7 kilograms of food per year, 36% of which could be avoided. Positive trends have emerged, as Wasteless’ 2024 survey shows a 35% decrease in avoidable household food waste since 2016. The programme’s main goal is to reduce food waste, highlighting the importance of raising awareness among children through creative competitions and educational initiatives.
Submissions were evaluated by a professional jury and also opened to public voting on the programme’s Facebook page.
The event was opened by Dr. Ferenc Helik, Deputy President of Nébih. Eszter Börcsök-Csenki, Head of the Risk Prevention and Education Department at Nébih, highlighted that the competition fits seamlessly into the Office’s educational programme, encouraging children not only to learn about responsible food behaviour but to participate creatively.
Winners from three age categories received toy store and bookstore gift vouchers as well as Wasteless gift packages, and the most active school was also recognised. One of the highlights of the event was when the top winners read their stories aloud and later signed each other’s books.
The Wasteless Story Book is available on the Wasteless website in Hungarian, aiming to reach as many children as possible and bring the topic of food waste prevention closer to younger generations.
