Support people suffering from food poverty this Christmas

While shoppers might normally be expected to take food away from a supermarket, customers at Sainsbury’s Putney will soon be leaving food behind too. The store, situated in Werter Road, Putney is taking part in a unique one day food collection on Saturday 26 th November, where customers will be asked to buy an extra item, which will then be delivered to local charities and community projects by the charity FareShare this Christmas.

The special one day food drive involving over 600 Sainsbury’s stores is being run in partnership with FareShare, the national food charity that addresses hunger in the UK by redistributing quality surplus food from the food industry to people who need it across the country. Sainsbury’s has been working with FareShare since 1994 but this is the first time customers from all across the country are being asked to actively take part.

Sainsbury’s Putney participation comes after a successful trial in July involving 19 Sainsbury’s stores nationwide. 25.5 tonnes of food was collected from the three day trial contributing enough food to feed 60,000 people.

Following the success of the trial, Sainsbury’s is now aiming to collect enough food to make one million meals through the 700 local charities which receive food from FareShare on a daily basis.

Sainsbury’s Retail and Logistics Director, Roger Burnley, said:
“The food we donate to FareShare tends to be fresh produce as this has the shortest shelf life. However, to make a nutritious meal, you need more than just fresh food, which is why we would like to give customers the opportunity to donate food during this special day and help make a difference to causes across the UK”.

FareShare is the national charity working to relieve food poverty by redistributing quality surplus food from the food industry to a network of over 700 community organisations across the UK that support homeless and other vulnerable people. The charity also provides training and education around the essential life skills of safe food preparation and nutrition, and warehouse employability training through FareShare’s Eat Well Live Well programme.

Lindsay Boswell, FareShare Chief Executive, said:
“Sainsbury’s has been involved with FareShare since the beginning, working with us to ensure that good food isn’t wasted. If food cannot be sold, but can be eaten, it should always go to people first. With this food drive, we have a fantastic opportunity to engage with individuals: Sainsbury’s customers will be able to support hungry people in a very tangible way and generally support a charity which offers a very practical solution to the issues of food waste and food poverty.

“We would like to encourage anyone who has an interest in food and supporting vulnerable people to support FareShare on Saturday 26th November. With their help, we can feed even more good food to some of the poorest people in our society, and help in some way to give them a happy Christmas this year”.

Hundreds of hostels, shelters and schools benefit from the work FareShare carries out across the country, including, in London, St Cuthbert’s, that runs an open-door drop-in centre to provide a safe, welcoming environment for vulnerable people in the area.

Steve Milton, St Cuthbert’s Centre Manager, said:
“FareShare is essential, St Cuthbert’s couldn’t survive without it. Clients would not eat regularly without St Cuthbert’s. If they don’t come here they may not get a meal that week. FareShare helps us to give a much better and varied menu”.

In the current climate, the need for FareShare has never been greater, with more and more people finding it hard to access good food and fewer and fewer organisations being able to provide the vital services.

The ‘One Million Meal Appeal’ takes place on Saturday 26th November. Customers can choose from a variety of long-life items including tins (meat, fish, veg, fruit), dried pasta, rice, tea and instant coffee. The items are purchased as normal at the checkout and left in the food collection point at the end of the checkout area. The food will then be collected by either Sainsbury’s or their corporate partner Allied Bakeries, who are providing logistical support for this event, and sent to FareShare, where the food will then be redistributed to local charities and community groups across the UK.