A group of more than 50 MPs have backed FareShare’s calls for the government to take action on food waste ahead of next week’s Comprehensive Spending Review.
The UK’s biggest food distribution charity’s letter to the prime minister urging him to extend a crucial food waste fund was backed by 53 MPs.
FareShare is calling on the government to extend its £5m yearly funding, which helps farmers and food producers cover the costs of getting surplus food to frontline charities in need.
“In 2019, the government demonstrated a bold commitment to tackling food waste, with a successful trial that diverted millions of meals’ worth of great-quality food from British farms to frontline charities providing care and support to vulnerable families,” said FareShare CEO, Lindsay Boswell.
“With just over a week until the Comprehensive Spending Review and two weeks until COP, we urge the government to once again show leadership on this issue and commit to extending vital funding to get in-date, nutritious food on to people’s plates.”
The letter is part of FareShare’s Food On Plates campaign. The charity claims the funding could create an additional 53 million meals for vulnerable families.
Read more: FareShare urges government to extend Food Waste Fund with new campaign
“It’s heart-breaking that good, healthy food, from growers and producers is being wasted in this country when it could be being put to good use by an existing network of almost 11,000 food-providing charities, such as pantries, breakfast clubs, refuges and older people’s lunch clubs,” said Neil Parish MP, chair of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee.
“Food redistribution is an elegant solution to the problem of food waste – one which benefits both the planet and our local communities, and ensures farmers in rural constituencies like mine can do the right thing with their surplus, morally and environmentally, without losing out financially.”
The current supply chain crisis has also affected the volumes of food getting through to FareShare’s warehouses.
It recently told The Grocer that its donations input was still down about 30% on earlier this year.
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