City Harvest selected to tackle surplus food at the farm gate

City Harvest rescues surplus food from across the UK food industry, including the farm gate

Thousands of tonnes of additional fresh food for people who need it.

City Harvest, the food charity focused on rescuing surplus food and distributing it to people facing food insecurity, has been awarded new funding to support UK farmers and growers by reducing farm gate waste, aka ‘the national waste crop’.

It is widely acknowledged that the UK’s fresh produce is the best in the world, grown with great care and expertise. The national waste crop is the food produced by farms that fail retailer specifications. This ‘waste’ currently gets sent to anaerobic digestion or animal feed rather than people facing food poverty. This crop is worth millions of pounds annually, with WRAP (The Waste & Resources Action Programme) estimating that around 3.6 million tonnes of food are wasted or go surplus each year. This wasted and surplus food, if sold at market value, would be worth approximately £1.2 billion. WRAP’s research highlights the significant financial, environmental, and efficiency benefits of addressing food waste in primary production (i.e farms).

Sarah Calcutt, CEO, City Harvest, says, “As both a farmer and CEO of a food redistribution charity, I know more than most how much love is invested into growing crops. Nothing makes a grower happier than to see their food enjoyed, providing happiness and nourishment. An ugly apple or a carrot with a bump is still every bit as nutritious and delicious as any other apple or carrot. It is a matter of national pride and efficiency that we make better use of what our incredible British farmers produce.”

City Harvest’s free service to UK farmers and growers

The pick-up will be free to farmers who will be able to request a collection through the City Harvest website as an extension of its Harvest for Hunger scheme.

The new funding has been awarded by the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) and will allow City Harvest to expand its depot and fleet efficiency, and to expand its volunteer programme. This will ensure more food can be kept fresher for longer and reaching more people.

Sarah Calcutt, a sixth-generation apple farmer herself, continues, “There is an insatiable and increasing demand for fresh food in the UK. This new funding will allow us to increase the amount of food we pick up directly from farms, reduce farm costs and increase further the amount of fresh food we can offer our customers.”

“We grow a frankly amazing range of fruits and veg in this country, from berries to spuds and brassicas to salads; but the truth is, as any farmer will testify, that a significant percentage of the food we grow will go to waste; and the reasons for this waste are often around shape and size not meeting retailer specifications rather than anything to do with health or nutrition.

Rescuing good surplus food to feed people in need

“The ‘national waste crop’ varies each year but is certainly in the millions of tonnes annually, with a value of many tens of millions of pounds.  This new funding will allow us to get to more farms and be their ‘waste picker-uppers’, take their surplus food and re-distribute more of it across myriad food banks, food charities and community hubs, helping more people get access to fresh, healthy food they may otherwise not ever have.

“Fresh food should be a basic right of everyone in Britain, and the growth of the Harvest for Hunger scheme takes us another step closer to making that a reality”

The need for healthy, fresh food for London communities remains high

Research from City Harvest’s own ‘People Value Report’ shows that fresh food is a luxury for millions, with a third of food going to waste, whilst around 20% of the population need support when it comes to food.

The need for food redistribution in London, particularly is now more important than ever. Poor health becoming a generational issue for people struggling to access fresh food from birth. Food inflation remains at high levels, with 4 million people going hungry, 5.7 million people skipping meals and 66% of people having to eat less nutritious food as a result of high food prices.

WATCH: Why UK farms choose to donate farm gate waste to City Harvest food charity. Featuring Chris Guindi, Managing Director at Richard Hochfeld Ltd, Kent.