The Government has awarded more than £4m to Fareshare, Company Shop Group, The Felix Project and Food Works Sheffield as the first tranche of a £15m scheme launched in January by Environment Secretary Michael Gove to help overcome barriers to getting food currently going to waste onto people’s plates.

As part of the selection exercise, the projects had to put forward their proposals on how they would do this. Solutions include developing new supply routes from growers and local distributors, funding new lines and additional staff and increasing capacity for repackaging and labelling.

A further round of funding will focus on improving infrastructure for companies to redistribute even more of the estimated 100,000 tonnes of food - equating to 250m meals a year – which is edible and readily available but goes uneaten. Instead, this food is currently sent away for generating energy from waste, anaerobic digestion or animal feed.

The scheme to tackle food waste builds on its landmark Resources and Waste Strategy, which sets out how the Government will introduce annual reporting of food surplus and waste by food businesses. Should progress be insufficient, it will consult on seeking legal powers to introduce mandatory targets for food waste prevention with the Government committed to supporting the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goal 2 to end hunger by 2030.

Share Story: