Supporting Fareshare in Brighton

Nancy Platts took the opportunity of the Labour Conference in town to spend an hour with DEFRA Minister Hilary Benn. Nancy discussed food waste and the brilliant work that Brighton-based charity FareShare do in Sussex.

Nancy Says: "I learnt all about Fareshare a few months ago when I spent a day as a volunteer with them. Basically, they take waste food from supermarkets and local businesses and distrubute it to people who can use it: charities, voluteer groups and the like.
"Last year Fareshare made sure that 280 tons of waste food didn't end up in landfill.

"Fareshare's Ian Chisnall clearly impressed Hilary with the scheme and it looks like Fareshare will be included as an example of best practice in the upcoming Food Waste Consultation Document. Hilary also left with a page of notes 'to do' on Fareshare's behalf. Well done Ian and all the brilliant volunteers and staff at FareShare!"

Nancy wrote a letter to the Guardian to showcase the achievements of Fareshare: the letter is reproduced here.

Another side to the story

There is another side to the story about food waste (‘Goodbye to ‘bogof’...ministers’ plan to keep Britain fed for the next 40 years – Guardian 11 August 2009).

In Brighton and Hove, a local franchise of the national charity, Fareshare runs a successful project that distributes over 280 tonnes of surplus food to homeless and vulnerable people that might otherwise go without. The food is donated by supermarkets and their suppliers and would otherwise go into landfill.

Whilst we must make every effort to avoid over-production, we also need to accept that there will always be some waste, particularly in a society that expects choice to be provided for consumers and look at positive alternatives for making use of it, that genuinely add to people’s way of life. The Brighton and Hove scheme provides many additional benefits including training and empowering individuals whose chaotic lifestyle might otherwise render them unemployable.

Fareshare currently have 12 franchises across the UK and have ambitions for many more. We can achieve a systematic regional roll-out if the major supermarkets and food producers work with Fareshare, supported by Government and regional development agencies.

We hope that Environment Secretary, Hilary Benn will use the food security strategy to place a requirement on supermarkets and food producers to look seriously at every alternative before using landfill, such as helping to establish more food projects that will tackle the dual problems of food waste and food poverty.

Nancy Platts, Labour parliamentary candidate for Brighton Pavilion
and Ian Chisnall, Trustee of City Gate Community Projects, FareShare Franchisee, Brighton