The UK’s largest food charity, FareShare has launched its #FoodOnPlates campaign to stop millions of tonnes of fresh, unsold food from being wasted, when it could instead go to charities and community groups feeding families.
According to FareShare, ‘One in eight people in the UK struggles to afford food – and the pandemic has resulted in many more families facing food insecurity, with 67% of charities providing emergency food aid saying they would have to continue, even as restrictions ease. Despite this, it is cheaper for farmers to waste good-to-eat food than get it to charities putting meals onto people’s plates. France, which offers business incentives through reduced taxation for food redistribution, gets six times more unsold food to charities.’
WRAP estimates there is over 2 million tonnes of edible surplus food in the supply chain, with the majority found on farms, and the #FoodOnPlates campaign is calling for £5 million a year in funding to help farmers and food producers cover the costs of safely storing and transporting unsold food so it can be redistributed.
FareShare CEO Lindsay Boswell, said, “Our network of frontline charities has been a lifeline for families during the pandemic, and, sadly, demand now remains at similar levels. It’s a scandal that good food is left to rot in our fields, thrown into biogas digesters or sent to landfill when so many families are still dependent on food aid in the wake of the crisis, with thousands more unable to afford healthy fruit and veg.”
Photo Caption: FareShare wants to increase the amount of wasted fresh food which can be redistributed.