The cost of living crisis is having a dramatic impact on families in Penrith and The Border, as highlighted by new figures published by FareShare – the UK’s biggest charity fighting hunger and food waste.
The charity’s annual statistics, show that between April 2021 and March 2022, it redistributed the equivalent of 93,000 meals in Penrith and The Border via 5 local charities.
Dr Neil Hudson has worked with the charity on their #FoodOnPlates campaign, and is calling on the government to reinstate previously axed funding.
FareShare takes delivery of surplus good-to-eat food, which is unsold or unwanted by the food industry, sorts it in one of its regional warehouses, and distributes it through a network of thousands of charities and community groups, or via its app called FareShare Go.
These organisations then turn this nutritious food into meals for vulnerable families and individuals, many of whom are struggling with unemployment, low income, debt, homelessness, family break up, dependency or other issues.
Dr Neil Hudson MP for Penrith and The Border and Member of the EFRA Select Committee said: “ I am fully behind the FareShare Campaign to stop food waste and help vulnerable families by providing a mechanism for fresh nutritious food to get to vulnerable families struggling with the cost of living crisis. Our EFRA Committee on which I sit has called on DEFRA to keep the funding going for this innovative scheme. With so many struggling to cope, funding food redistribution and stopping needless food waste is so important in terms of our food security. £5 million in annual funding would allow FareShare to redistribute an additional 53 million meals across the UK.”
“It’s important that funding gets to the farms sooner rather than later, to enable them to help people affected by the cost of living crisis with surplus food from the current growing season and harvest.”
Lindsay Boswell, FareShare’s CEO, said: “More than 2 million tonnes of good-to-eat food goes to waste on our farms and in our factories every year. Meanwhile, millions of people are experiencing food insecurity, with more and more people in Penrith and The Border being affected by the cost of living crisis."
"At a time of so much need, it is wrong that there is so much waste. That’s why we started our #FoodOnPlates campaign, and I’m incredibly grateful to Dr Neil Hudson for his continued support in Parliament.”
FareShare previously took part in a trial project run by Defra, which enabled farmers and producers to get their unsold food to charities, via FareShare’s innovative Surplus with Purpose scheme.
