An Edinburgh food charity has saved a record 410 tonnes of fresh, in date surplus food from waste by diverting it to people in need – up 18 per cent increase on the previous twelve months.
FareShare Central & South East Scotland takes surplus food from the food industry that can’t be sold in shops, either because of packaging errors or a short shelf life, but is still good to eat and redistributes it to frontline charities and community groups. Food items and categories redistributed include fresh meat and fish, fruit and vegetables, ready meals, milk and cheeses.
The Edinburgh based depot, which is run by partner charity Cyrenians, currently serves a network of 136 organisations across central and south east Scotland – including school breakfast clubs, domestic violence refuges, older people’s lunch clubs, food banks and hospices.
These organisations in the last year alone used FareShare food to provide almost 1 million meals for vulnerable people who might otherwise go hungry. The provision FareShare supplies also enabled them to make a collective saving of £1,074,400.
A national survey found that, on average, each charity saves £7,900 from its yearly food bill by using food from FareShare, with one in five charities saying that without that food they’d have to close. The food also helps the charities provide healthier, more nutritious meals, with 77% saying it’s improved their client’s diets.
In Edinburgh specifically, 95 organisations in Edinburgh alone regularly receive food from FareShare – between them serving over an estimated 10,000 people in need. Last year, FareShare provided 280 tonnes of surplus food to these projects – enough to provide 666,000 meals.
FareShare Central & South East Scotland Manager, Lynne Collie, said: “Times are tough for charities, with local authority cuts continuing to bite.
“The food we redistribute is great quality and tastes just like the food you’d eat at home. It’s amazing that we can take something that could been thrown away and turn it into something that creates enormous social benefit.”
One such charity is St Catherine’s Convent homeless project in Edinburgh.
Sister Aelred Timmins, director of the homeless project, said: “FareShare’s support is very important to us and the people we help. It gives us a better quality of food, lots of it and it’s nutritious too. We do go out to buy food but of course it can be very pricy, so FareShare’s support is vital to us.
“We welcome people in Monday to Friday – absolutely everybody is welcome. We help up to 200 people a day. It’s all about helping the community.”
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