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On the back of another Buy Nothing Day (this year's took place on 29 November and gained a higher level of media interest than usual, possibly because of the deepening impact of the credit crunch) FareShare's Maria Kortbech-Olesen has a salient point to make about the realities of our contemporary consumer culture.

"Almost one third of all waste that goes to landfill is from the food and drink industry," she says sadly, "and a quarter of this 'waste' could still be consumed, which could be up to four million tonnes." FareShare re-distributed 4.5 million meals in 07 alone, though it continues to fight against a tide of restrictions and wasteful practice - and the inevitable accompanying 'ugghh' factor.

At the turn of the millennium the Joseph Rowntree Foundation estimates that up to four million people in the UK are unable to afford a healthy diet, while today at least one-in-seven over-65 year olds are malnourished (Malnutrition Advisory Group). The mission of FareShare is to counteract this 'food poverty' by redistributing surplus food, offering training and, under its organisation, six depots have been set up in London, Birmingham, Brighton, Dundee, Edinburgh and South Yorkshire, with millions of meals delivered each year to people all around the country.

"We receive surplus food from all kinds of companies," says Kortbech-Olesen, "including manufacturers such as Kellogg's and Nestle, all the way down to retailers such as Sainsbury's, Tesco and Marks & Spencers. We take this food and re-distribute it to 420 organisations across the country."

FareShare was created in 1994 by Crisis, the homelessness charity, but became independent in 04. This meant a broadening of its client range to include vulnerable children, breakfast and after-school clubs, women's refuges, elderly people, nursing homes and those with drug and alcohol dependencies.

"We work in three different ways - delivering surplus food, ensuring no good food goes to waste and by providing education. The latter is because the people suffering food poverty generally lack the skills and knowledge of how to prepare food safely as well."

Kortbech-Olesen is quick to provide assurances that the food they distribute is not waste. Rather it is stock which has become surplus for whatever reason.

"A manufacturer may have produced too much ice cream during the summer when the weather is bad. Or it could be an error during the production process. For example, we took some instant soup where the pasta had the wrong shape. The soup had the same taste but it didn't have a commercial outlet any more. So we took that product and redistributed
it. Some of it is very close to its best-before-date; we often receive a load of tomatoes on a Monday evening that have to be consumed by the Tuesday.

That requires a quick turn-a-round.We get it in, sort it, and on the next day it is consumed."
Kortbech-Olesen believes that this should be a straightforward equation: people need proper, nutritious food, whilst food producers and retailers have perfectly good stock that is going to waste. However, few things in the contemporary free market are that simple - getting the companies to identify the food early enough in the process and then work with FareShare is where the major challenge lies.

"I think things have changed recently, but five years ago you could talk to companies who would completely deny that they had any waste at all. I think that some companies are still reluctant to say they work with us because they see that as admitting they have a problem with surplus waste. But as these companies are being more and more urged to demonstrate a corporate and environmental responsibility, so they are also keen to express their association with us. They are even taking the steps to identify when food becomes surplus and releasing it to us. In working with FareShare they are supporting the community and the environment by reducing the amount of food that goes to landfill. But it's not only an altruistic move.They can use our relationship in their marketing, so there is also something in it for them."

Another major challenge facing FareShare is in the form of the government. This stems from the need the organisation has, like all charitable organisations, to secure funding. But, as Kortbech-Olesen points out, it is also a struggle to gain recognition from that it is working to tackle wastage and food poverty. Her view is that there has been bias in government thinking towards using the process of anaerobic digestion (AD, or the recycling of waste food into bio-gas) rather than in pursuing a redistribution policy.

Hmmm.

"We think that there should be as much recognition for what we do, and that surplus
food should go to FareShare before going to those AD machines. It should be used to feed people before it is recycled. It is difficult for us to get noticed in the grand scheme of things as we are quite small, but we are now recognised in the Food Industry Sustainability Strategy, and the new waste strategy has re-use as sitting at the top of the waste hierarchy. So at least things are being said but the action now has to follow."

words: Andrew Laughlin

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