The UK Government has announced grants totalling £13.6 million have been offered to 12 food redistribution charities across England.
The Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra) says the grants will help redistribute an estimated 19,000 tonnes of food from farms to homeless shelters, food banks and charities.
Commenting on the grants, Waste Minister Mary Creagh, who is also responsible for the circular economy, 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.”
Successful redistribution organisations that applied for funding through the grants include City Harvest, a food charity which rescues surplus food and delivers it to more than 130,000 people a week, which will receive more than £303,000.
Sarah Calcutt, CEO of City Harvest, commented: “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.”
A consortium bid led by FareShare UK and its network partners, including Felix Project, will receive more than £9.2 million.
Food in Community, based in Devon, will also receive more than £1.5 million to partner with local farmers and food producers to redistribute surplus food.
These Government grants will go a long way to supercharge more charitable networks to capture some of the estimated 330,000 tonnes of food that could be redistributed from UK farms every year
Last year, the UK Government established an independent Circular Economy Taskforce to develop a Circular Economy Strategy.
The Taskforce is focusing on five priority sectors, including agri-food, the built environment, chemicals and plastics, transport, and electronics.
The UK Government also reaffirmed its continued support for the UK Food and Drink Pact, managed by WRAP, which looks to deliver a more sustainable supply chain and reduce food waste in the home.
Catherine David, CEO of WRAP, said: “Food waste happens wherever food is grown, made, sold and consumed – from farm to fork.
“Redistributing surplus food from retail and manufacture is a real success story, stopping thousands of tonnes of good food from going to waste every year.
“These government grants will go a long way to supercharge more charitable networks to capture some of the estimated 330,000 tonnes of food that could be redistributed from UK farms every year – and use it for good – in communities around the country.”
Commenting on the grants, David Gudgeon, Head of External Affairs at Reconomy Connect, a brand by international circular economy specialists Reconomy, said: “We’re very pleased to see Defra tackling food waste through these grants, which rightly prioritise redistribution in line with the food waste hierarchy and ensure that high-quality, surplus food is used to feed people first.
“Initiatives like this not only offer vital support to families facing food insecurity, but also help to retain the highest possible value from our food system, preventing fresh, nutritious produce from going to waste unnecessarily.”
