Eat Your Pumpkin
We heard something terrifying about Halloween. Millions of pumpkins are bought but never eaten.
But pumpkin is a delicious, versatile ingredient! It’s why we’ve spent the last decade on a pumpkin-saving mission, trying to make pumpkin eating as popular as pumpkin carving, with our annual ‘Eat Your Pumpkin’ campaign.
The problem is, carved pumpkins often look a little sad by the time Halloween has passed. Our solution? Decorate your pumpkin instead of carving. Less mess (no pumpkin guts everywhere), less stress (no big knives in little hands), and it keeps the whole thing good till you’re ready to eat it.
Craft first, and cook later - double the fun from a single pumpkin.
How do we inspire everybody to eat their pumpkin?
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Share amazing recipes
Jam packed with sweet, savoury and simple ideas of how to #EatYourPumpkin. Check out our Pumpkin recipe book
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Decorating inspo, as well as family friendly ‘make with me’ videos
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Get celeb chefs on board to rebrand the humble pumpkin as an iconic ingredient.
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Give local groups money to run pumpkin decorating and eating events
Find out where they’re happening this year on our pumpkin events map
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Don’t tell people show them
Check out our Halloween thriller above.
Stories from 2023 Eat Your Pumpkin events
Community Feast event
In 2023, The Village CIC hosted a crafting event for the whole community. They shared recipes and offered dishes such as roasted pumpkin, pumpkin cake and pumpkin-spice energy balls. They even put on a show ‘Patricia the pumpkin’ for six assemblies worth of kids (that’s around 1000 children!).
All ages pumpkin party!
Another group, Gortnaghey Youth Club, held a fun filled pumpkin party for their community – bringing together kids of all ages from their youth groups for a range of activities. From decorating pumpkins with stickers, to learning to make pumpkin soup for senior citizens, there was something for everyone.
Saving carvings from the bin
Thanks to Pumpkin Rescue, the spooky story of the uneaten pumpkins has travelled far and wide, leading to lots of eerie-sistable pumpkin recipes and dishes coming to life to show people how to save those delicious carvings from the bin. From a traditional pumpkin soup and roasted seeds for snacks, to a coconut pumpkin cake, and even pumpkin kimchi! Sweet or savoury, we just want to see them eaten. Find these recipes in the e-book below.
- Nena Foster, Natural Chef
- Pumpkin Rescuer, Enfield
What difference have we made?
Since we first launched the campaign, as 'Pumpkin Rescue', in Oxford in 2014, it's taken the world by storm, saving pumpkins from the bin and shifting attitudes towards eating them.
From inspiring hundreds of community events in UK (and across the pond in USA and Asia) to reaching millions online with press and social media campaigns, attitudes towards eating pumpkins nationally have shifted from 42% of the population thinking you can eat your pumpkin to now 59% in 2022. Sainsbury’s has also made the move to only sell edible pumpkins over carving ones, and we hope more retailers follow.
We’re not stopping there, we’re on a mission to make pumpkin eating as popular as pumpkin carving. Will you join and Eat Your Pumpkin this year?
It’s simple - eat your pumpkin! Too easy? Here’s how you can take it further...
- Spread the word. Check out our digital resource pack full of info and social posts, and help us spread the #EatYourPumpkin word online.
- Host an event. Whether you want to host an intimate pumpkin lunch with your family, a ‘decorate and dine’ class for your colleagues, or a giant pumpkin festival, we've created a 'How To' guide and resources to help you every step of the way. Download our community resources here.
Eat Your Pumpkin is supported by the 5p Cup Charge. In 2018 Starbucks introduced a 5p charge on single-use cups in the UK. The 5ps are donated to Hubbub to run campaigns that build stronger, greener communities.
See Hubbub in action
From Community Fridges that cut food waste to Ballot Bins that halve cigarette litter, our campaigns show what taking action that's good for the environment looks like in practice.
Hungry for more?
We do more than food waste. Ever wondered what to do with your old clothes, or how to make your smartphone last longer?