Defra looks to increase food waste distribution

Major food retailers and charities are set to meet for the first time today (July 3) at a roundtable coordinated by Caroline Spelman in a bid to find more ways of redistributing unwanted food to those in need.

The meeting will see a number of retailers and charities, including FareShare and FoodCycle, look at ways to increase the distribution of surplus food, which would otherwise go to waste, and get more retailers on board.

All food donated is within its use-by or best before date but does not have a commercial outlet for a variety of reasons such as packaging, human or technical error, trial runs or marketing promotions or over ordering.

Environment secretary Ms Spelman said that the organisations were already working hard to put the food to great use but more needs to be done.

Commenting on the roundtable Ms Spelman said: Preventing food waste protects the environment, helps communities and makes good business sense. Charities and retailers are already working together to make great use of surplus food and Im hosting the roundtable today to look at new ways to make the system work even better.

Many of the major food retailers are set to attend, some of whom are already working in partnership with the charities. Those attending include: Tesco; Asda; Morrisons; Marks & Spencer; Sainsburys; Waitrose; Co-op; Boots Alliance; the British Retail Consortium; the Institute of Grocery Distribution; and, the Food and Drink Federation.

FareShare

The FareShare scheme has previously received support from Mayor of London Boris Johnson who in December 2010 officially opened the organisations surplus food hub in Park Royal, North London (see letsrecycle.com story). The depot was funded by the London Waste and Recycling Board (LWaRB).

Mr Johnson also used an event organised by the scheme called Feed the 5,000 to mark the launch of his 20-year business waste strategy (see letsrecycle.com story). At the event, the Mayor helped to serve food produced from vegetables that would not be suitable for sale in supermarkets because of their shape or size.

Commenting on FareShare’s work Lindsay Boswell, the charity’s chief executive, said: “An inevitable consequence of the publics expectation of constantly full shelves means that there will be store level surpluses. FareShare supports over 700 charities that are tackling food poverty and could collect these surpluses, thereby preventing unnecessary food waste.”

According to FareShare’s National Impact Survey almost half of the charities it supports reported an increase in demand for food in 2011. This combined with soaring food prices and the recession has put further strain on families and people on low incomes. Additionally, a third of the charities surveyed are facing government funding cuts, with 65% of these slashing food budgets in an effort to stay afloat.

Benefits

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) said there are a number of reasons why businesses and households should be preventing the amount of food waste they produce, including:

• Food sent to landfill biodegrades releasing methane into the atmosphere which has damaging effects on the environment;
• Charities such as FareShare and FoodCycle can put the food to good use in the community by donating it to those in need, and;
• Retailers and supermarkets can save money by working with these charities as the cost of giving the surplus food to them to cheaper than disposal costs.