GOOD NEWS WASTE FOOD DISTRIBUTION

Perfectly good food of 10 million tonnes was wasted every year.

An organisation called The Felix Project is trying to put an end to it. It was set up by a very courageous  Evening Standard chairman Justin Byam Shaw and his wife in memory of their teenage son Felix who died at the age of 14.

They hired a depot in Park Royal and installed a project manager. Installed a walk-in chiller and bought two delivery vans put on a logo "Good Food for good causes".

They pick-up unsold fresh produce for free from supermarkets and food suppliers. They deliver it to a wide network of charities that prepare meals for the most destitute and socially isolated Londoners.

With only two full time employees and 23 volunteers it supplies 23 charities that supplies 500 struggling Londoners each week.

It is a small beginning but a wonderful beginning. The supply is there it just needs  more funding to expand further..

There are already other charities such as FareShare, Community Shop, FoodCycle and City Harvest. 

FareShare is the largest distributed 9,070 tonnes of food last year to 2,485 charities. FareShare charges for delivery whereas Felix does not. FareShare gets its supply from food manufacturers hardly from the Supermarket at the end of the day.

Supermarket are becoming more aware of  throwing still perfectly good food into landfills. By now 10 top[ Supermarket have joined the campaign.

Today's news, the Evening Standard wrote that Global Banking Group City has become the first bank to support the campaign to tackle food waste and hunger in London. The company has made a donation of £200,000 to the flagship The Felix Project

The first £100,000 will be used to employ jobless youth to train as managers and assistant manager as Felix expands. The second £100,000 will be used to train van drivers to achieve a licence and staff over the next 18 months all from the youth unemployment list.

This could and should have been done a long time ago organised by the Tory Government that is only interested how much more can be cut from Welfare benefits and privatising the NHS for their own benefit. Last year Ian Duncan Smith paid out £44,000 bonus that only could have come off the back of benefits. ex-PM Cameron did not stop it.

There are over 2,500 death from suicides and starvation and 40,000 death from hyperthermia last winter.

A great Achievement !!!!!!!!

GOOD FOOD WASTED

At a time when families are so hard up in Britain that they have to go to food banks it has been reported that two billion tones – two billion tonnes -- of perfect food being thrown away each year which is a crime.

The reason for this to happen is either transport or storage problems. Also the EU’s rule for uniform size fruit and vegetables, which is another crazy idea coming from Brussels, causes this wastage. 

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Where is the sense for one apple not being the same size as the other? This rule makes the growers throw away 30 per cent of their produce. Also it had been said in previous reports; the growers spray fruits to have the right size which would mean another chemical.

Gosh those bureaucrats in Brussels do not know what they are doing.

The Institute of Mechanical Engineering issued a report that they want to have the rule stopped of  buy-one-get-one-free. This also encourages housewives to buy more food than they actual eat and throw the rest away.

A further criticism was made about fruit and vegetable not being perfect and therefore the supermarkets will not buy it. There again the rules have to be more relaxed and given the customer the choice of buying less perfect looking food which would help financially. 

The problems here is that the supermarkets will not buy them because it will be offered at reduce price and therefore the profits will not be high enough. Supermarkets should also consider that the customers would buy more because it is more affordable. Therefore their profit would come in from the quantity

To counteract to the supermarket’s powers and arrogance would be more farmers’ market.  It would help the farmers as well in selling the less perfect fruit and vegetable and help the consumers. Besides the farmers would have the full money as with selling it to supermarkets they only get a share.

The wastage of fruit and vegetables is also a waste of water and in growing, processing and distribution.

This two billion tonnes of wasted food has certainly to be look into it to avoid such a squander.

Again it is amazing that the authorities have not done something about it all this time.