Food waste in households has become more of a problem. Disparities have grown between people living on the edge of poverty and those succumbed to consumerism correlated with acquisition of excessive amounts of food that is then thrown away. One of the main tasks for governments in many countries, including Poland, is to reduce the scale of food waste and to raise awareness of  individual consumers. A questionnaire survey research was conducted amongst inhabitants in the Łódź voivodeship and its topic covered the individual shopping habits and their effect on food  waste in households. The objective of the research study was to identify the causes of food waste in households, the consequences thereof and to show the knowledge of food waste issues. Based  on the research results it was found that the knowledge of food waste issues was insufficient. The most commonly thrown away food products were: bakery products (6.3 %), warm meals (4 %), wilted vegetables and fruits (2.4 %) and food products past their expiration date (2.4 %). Almost 55 % of women and 60 % of men declared they happened to stock up on food. The majority of  respondents were not able to estimate whether or not their households generated more food waste compared to previous years. The respondents were not able to explicitly indicate whether or  not the food waste issue was important. It was proved that the key element in reducing food waste was to prepare a shopping list, to check food supplies at home and to know the expiration dates of  food products.