UK food surplus could help millions in ‘deep poverty’
The amount of food surplus wasted by the food and drink industry could be used to help feed 5.8 million people living in ‘deep poverty’, food redistribution charity FareShare has said.
FareShare has warned that, in the UK, up to 400,000 tonnes of surplus food (such as that produced from overproduction, incorrect labelling, and damaged packaging) thrown away by the food and drink industry is edible and in date.
It estimates that this food could be redirected to create 800 million meals for the 5.8 million people in ‘deep poverty’ (around 13 meals per person).
FareShare background
The charity already provides over 12 million meals from this ‘hidden food’ source to over 1,290 charities around the country, including homeless shelters, women’s refuge centres, children’s breakfast clubs and luncheon clubs for older people.
The warning comes as FareShare celebrates its 10th anniversary as an independent charity. Originally established by homeslessness charity Crisis and supermarket chain Sainsbury’s in 1994, the charity was developed by FareShare in the 1990s before becoming independent in 2004.
It now has 18 regional centres across the UK with plans to open more branches ‘later this year’.
‘Just the tip of the iceberg of what is potentially available’
Lindsay Boswell, CEO of FareShare said: “Over the past decade we have redistributed enough surplus to provide over 67 million meals. This is a great milestone to reach in our 10th anniversary and we are only using 1.5 per cent of surplus food. However this is just the tip of the iceberg of what is potentially available and we could be providing so much more from this source.
“We have built a sustainable and successful model to tackle food hunger through food waste, which all started thanks to our original founders Crisis and Sainsbury’s. Without their input we wouldn’t be here today helping feed 62,200 people daily and I look forward to building on this success for the future.”
According to FareShare, in the last decade the charity has:
- increased its meal production by 300 per cent;
- redistributed 205 per cent more food; and
- seen a 400 per cent increase in the number of charities becoming FareShare members.
Paul Crewe, Head of Sustainability, Energy and Environment at Sainsbury’s – which is still one of FareShare’s ‘major food partners – said: “We’re delighted to celebrate FareShare’s 10th anniversary with them as a founding partner. I’ve watched the charity go from strength to strength and hope their important work continues for many years to come.”
Leslie Morphy, Chief Executive of Crisis said: “FareShare’s continued success is a real source of pride for us here at Crisis and a testament to the dedication of its staff. We established FareShare 20 years ago as a way to get surplus food to people who need it most and it has remained true to it’s founding mission, thriving as a charity in its own right. Sadly its work is now more important than ever.”
Another way that food can become surplus is when aesthetic standards for retailers prevent them from putting otherwise perfectly good food on the shelves.
Read about how a French supermarket has bucked this practice to highlight the problem of food waste or find out more about FareShare.
