Source · Select Committees · Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee
Recommendation 9
9
Paragraph: 48
During the early stages of the pandemic, however, supply to food banks and food aid...
Recommendation
During the early stages of the pandemic, however, supply to food banks and food aid organisations was disrupted. At the same time, a significant amount of food is still being wasted in the supply chain. Food waste must always be reduced, but, at a time of such critical need, it is particularly abhorrent. We commend Defra for providing £16 million of funding for the redistribution of food to vulnerable people. However, we recommend that Defra continues to provide the £5 million annual funding for FareShare to redistribute surplus food from the farmgate and across the supply chain to frontline food aid providers, for a further two years. As well as helping those who struggle to afford food as the effects of the pandemic continue, it would also reduce food waste at the farmgate. Over the next two years, Defra should evaluate whether the scheme has been successful and whether it should continue or be expanded as part of its efforts to reduce food waste. The Government should evaluate the impact of the £63 million provided to local authorities to assist those struggling to afford food and consider whether further support is necessary.
Paragraph Reference:
48
Government Response
Not Addressed
HM Government
Not Addressed
Nobody wants to see good food go to waste. The UK is committed to two ambitious targets; Sustainable Development Goal 12.3 with a target of 50% reduction in retail and consumer food waste by 2030 and the Courtauld Commitment 2025 (C2025) which aims to reduce food waste by 20% between 2015 and 2025. Government grants have been made available to both small and large redistribution organisations through Waste and Resource Action Programme’s (WRAP) Resource Action Fund. In addition, circa £5 million of the £16 million fund highlighted in the Committee’s recommendation has been allocated to COVID-19 specific grants to support food redistribution organisations of all sizes. So far, 210 organisations, including FareShare UK and their franchisees, have been awarded funds through this grant to overcome barriers in the sector. From overcoming operational barriers in obtaining, storing and transporting food safely from restaurants as they close in response to coronavirus, to supporting drops in volunteer numbers, this funding will allow charities to capture additional surplus, for example from local farms, retailers and pubs that would otherwise become food waste. FareShare was one of four redistribution organisations who previously received grants in 2019 as part of a £15 million pilot project to tackle food waste across a range of projects. In summary, FareShare, supported by £1.9m, redistributed 4,447 tonnes while the programme as a whole redistributed 6,013 tonnes of food surplus for circa £4.2m. It is important to note that we estimate that the food surplus redistributed through this grant scheme represents approximately 0.2% of all supply chain food waste and <0.1% of all food waste (post-farm gate). This indicates that although grant schemes that encourage the diversion of food surplus to waste streams are important, much more needs to be done to tackle food waste at all stages in the supply chain. The evaluation of the £15m pilot project and other government interventions to tackle food waste will inform our future programme of work, including into the next spending review period. Defra dispersed the full £63m to the 151 first tier English Councils by early August. The majority of the money will be spent within 12 weeks. We are monitoring spend on a monthly basis via the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) LA Finance team, and we will be evaluating the impact at the end of that 12 week period.