An estimated 330,000 tonnes of edible food are either wasted or repurposed as animal feed before leaving farm gates every year. The government said that charities that redistribute food often lack the means to collect food from farms and get it to those who need it.
The scheme will allow grants of £20,000 made available to the not-for-profit food redistribution sector in England.
Circular economy minister Mary Creagh said: “With families gathering to celebrate Christmas and the New Year, it’s important to remember those in our communities who may be going hungry this festive period.
“Nobody wants to see good food go to waste – especially farmers who work hard to put food on family tables across the country.
“Our new fund will help the charitable sector to work more closely with farmers, helping to find new opportunities to get their world-leading produce to those most in need within our communities.”
The funding could go towards enabling successful applicants to buy new equipment, such as balers or hoppers, to allow bulky food items to be collected or processed into parcels, and technology to help donors and food redistribution charities work more closely. Money could also help provide more training to staff in areas such as IT and food safety.
In a joint statement, Charlotte Hill and Kris Gibbon-Walsh, CEOs of food charities The Felix Project and FareShare respectively, responded to the news: “After years of campaigning by food redistribution charities, we are thrilled to see this fund come to fruition. We are pleased that the government has recognised that too much food goes to waste on our farms, and that it should be redistributed to feed people who need it.
“We look forward to acting quickly with the government, the charity sector, and farmers to maximise the impact of this initiative during British growing season, ensuring surplus food reaches as many people as possible. We have a proven model which funds farmers to redistribute their unsold food, which means that together, we can take meaningful steps toward achieving a zero-waste Britain.”
Harriet Lamb, CEO of global environmental NGO WRAP, added: “This is welcome support for farmers and redistribution organisations ensuring more quality food is rescued and can support more people and communities, while reducing the environmental impact of food waste on climate change.
“It gives a flying start to the New Year, ensuring that food charities and the farming sector can both make a difference immediately and can develop long term solutions. Every year, the amount of surplus food being redistributed is going up, but sadly the need is also increasing so this gives a much-needed boost. Last year, 191,000 tonnes of food from retailers, food manufacturers, the hospitality sector and UK farms – worth £764 million – was redistributed with the potential to make 450 million meals.”
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