Food charity FareShare has criticized the government after Defra bosses admitted they were not sure where surplus food redistribution fund had been re-allocated, claiming it’s been ‘lost’.
According to The Grocer, MPs questioned Defra officials in the House of Commons this week on where the £15m was now being spent instead.
Originally founded under Michael Gove in 2018, which included funding for Fareshare’s Surplus with Purpose fund, the surplus food redistribution scheme helped pay farmers and other food companies to divert surplus food to tackle hunger and help hundreds of community groups.
During the questioning, Defra permanent secretary Tamara Finkelstein said “she understood” the money had been allocated to Defra’s overall funding towards farmers, but would confirm to MPs at a later date.
Fareshare has since launched a campaign for renewed funding of £25m a year to restart the scheme, potentially saving the government an estimated £140m in tackling food poverty and nearly 70,000 tonnes of CO2 from food waste.
In June, Unilever partnered with the Co-op and FareShare to donate a range of products across its homecare, personal care and food portfolios to support local communities amid rising costs in the UK.
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FareShare CEO George Wright, former commercial director at M&S and Tesco, told The Grocer: “This money is needed now more than ever.
“Of the £15m pilot fund we invested £1.9m, much of it farm-based, and redistributed 4,400 tonnes of surplus food, equivalent to over 10 million meals.
“We’ve made frequent and numerous requests for funding to scale this up since, but have either been refused, directed to other departments or told that there is no new money. In other words, it gets lost in bureaucracy.”
He added: “This would be a fantastic investment in both our farmers and the community sector who provide a whole spectrum of services to families right across the UK, not just food.
“The government needs to pull its finger out. This is a no-brainer.”
The news comes as BelVita has partnered with FareShare to donate up to 100,000 meals to families in need.
