The Feeding of the 5000

Every year thousands of tons of perfectly edible food is sent to landfill sites.   We tend to blame supermarkets and the food industry and they do have to take responsibility for food waste caused by packaging errors, out of date promotions, discontinued lines etc.  But half of the food thrown away in the UK comes from our own homes - and more than half of this is food we could have eaten or drunk.

At the same time there are over 4 million people in the UK who cannot afford a healthy diet, including the homeless, the elderly, disadvantaged children, refugees and people suffering from mental illness.

Fareshare aims to marry the two issues and offer a solution by redistributing surplus food to those who need it.  No waste.  Better health.

To illustrate the magnitude of the problem Fareshare Southwest hosted the Feeding of the 5000 on College Green yesterday, when they served a vegetable curry prepared from a ton of donated vegetables.

I volunteered for duty as a steward and was assigned to recycling bin duty, helping diners to dispose of their waste in an environmentally friendly manner.

The sun shone.  Crowds descended.  Queues formed.  Curry was eaten.  Children potato printed.  Bands played.  Cooks demonstrated.  Awareness was raised. 

Less food will be wasted?

I hope so.