A new £15m government fund has opened to strengthen the links between farms and charities to help solve the problem of farm food waste.
Thousands of tonnes of food that might otherwise go to waste will be delivered to those who need it most, Defra announced today (27 December).
An estimated 330,000 tonnes of edible food is either wasted or repurposed as animal feed before leaving farm gates every year.
While farmers would prefer for this to be destined for people’s plates, charities that redistribute food often lack the means to collect food from farms and get it to those who need it.
To strengthen the links between farms and charities and help solve the problem of farm food waste, the new scheme will see grants starting from £20,000 made available to the not-for-profit food redistribution sector in England.
Throughout the year, but especially over Christmas, this will help organisations like homeless shelters, food banks and charities fight hunger, Defra said.
The scheme will help British farmers to deliver food for those that need it and reduce the costs they face when dealing with waste, while also increasing the capacity and capability of the redistribution sector to take on farm surplus.
Circular Economy Minister Mary Creagh said: “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.”
Defra said that 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.
Information on when the fund opens and full eligibility criteria for applications will be confirmed in the new year.
In a joint statement, Charlotte Hill, CEO of the Felix Project, and Kris Gibbon-Walsh, CEO of FareShare, said they were '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."
