The Department for Environment, food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) has allocated £13.6 million funding to charities across the UK to redistribute over 19,000t of food surplus.
Nutritious food that would only go to waste will now help struggling families, thanks to new grants offered today (Tuesday, 10 June).
A total of 12 food charities across England will receive large funding to fight food poverty – including City Harvest (£303,000), Food in Community (£1.5 million), and FareShare, which along with its network partners including Felix Project will receive more than £9.2 million.
Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Minister with responsibility for circular economy and waste resources Mary Creagh said: “This government’s Plan for Change is acting on food poverty and tackling Britain’s throwaway culture, ensuring more good food ends up on plates and not in bins.
“I am delighted to see this support go to 12 outstanding redistribution charities to form closer relationships with our hard-working farmers, and ensure their good food goes to those in need.”
Food charities
City Harvest is a food charity that rescues surplus food and delivers it to more than 130,000 people a week.
These funds aim to strengthen the links between farms and charities and help solve the problem of farm food waste.
CEO of City Harvest, Sarah Calcutt said: “A significant percentage of the food we grow will go to waste; and the reasons for this waste are often around shape and size not meeting retailer specifications rather than anything to do with health or nutrition;
“This new funding will allow us to increase the amount of food we pick up directly from farms, reduce farm costs, and increase further the amount of fresh food we can offer our customers.”
Due to the funding, FareShare UK will be able to increase the number of farms they partner with to 170 and increase their redistribution capacity to 15,933t – a 28% increase.
CEO of FareShare, Kris Gibbon-Walsh and CEO of the Felix Project, Charlotte Hill said in a joint statement; “This scheme will enable us to rescue more surplus from farms across England.
” It will ensure the charities we support, including after-school clubs, homelessness shelters, and community groups, can access thousands of tonnes of fresh produce and transform it into meals and vital support to those who need it most”.
