In the wake of Hugh’s War on Waste, the BBC1 three-part documentary series investigating food waste in the UK – which the Feedback team has been featured in and advised on – there’s been tremendous outcry for UK supermarkets to tackle the vast amount of food they waste. Let's use this momentum to fight food waste together!

Imagine the very people who grow our food don’t always earn enough to feed themselves.

For years, Feedback has been investigating the supply chains of some of the UK’s largest food retailers, who are wasting millions of tonnes of food annually. We’ve also met with farmers in the UK who have been forced to waste food on their farms for two major reasons:

Supermarkets dictate strict product specifications to farmers, meaning they’ll only buy fruits and vegetables that fit demanding size, shape and colour specifications – regardless of the nutrition, taste and value of the food.

Additionally, last minute order cancellations by supermarkets and the businesses they are supplied by leave many farmers without any compensation and no market to sell their food to.

When farmers are forced to waste entire crops some have to resort to taking out loans in order to pay their workers. However, not all workers are paid and as a result cannot put food on their table or send their children to school. You can learn more about these unfair practices at our Stop Dumping Campaign.

Hugh's War on Waste is doing a fantastic job revealing that supermarkets have a lot more work to do in tackling the nation’s food waste scandal. Have a look at Hugh's scathing response to Morrison's attempt to deal with the colossal amount of wasted parsnips featured in the series on one of their suppliers farms in The Guardian. Here is our springboard to fight food waste and get unfair practices imposed on farmers changed.

Donate
Ever since Feedback’s first Feeding the 5000 in 2009 in Trafalgar Square, we have been working tirelessly to fight food waste. As a charity that doesn’t accept funding from private corporations, we depend on donations – large and small – from supporters like you. Your valuable contribution will go toward keeping Feedback's voice strong and independent and its campaigns leading the fight against food waste. You can donate securely here.

Join an event near you
Feedback runs a number of campaigns that rely on volunteers:

Feeding the 5000 events showcase the fun solutions to food waste by holding a day of public action where 5000 meals are prepared from food that would otherwise go to waste. Sign up for Feeding the 5000.

Join the Arable Spring! The Gleaning Network UK coordinates teams of volunteers to rescue perfectly edible fruits and vegetables on farms that would otherwise be ploughed back into the earth. If you’d like to join in a gleaning day around the UK please sign up to our gleaning list.

Sign Hugh’s Pledge
We can all do our bit when it comes to fighting food waste. Hugh’s pledge calls on supermarkets to double the amount of waste food they redistribute in the next year and for more transparency in how they deal with food waste. It also lists a number of simple steps we can all implement into our daily routine to waste less at home. Pledge your support.

Last week the Gleaning Network set out to save as many apples as possible from going to waste on a farm in Gloucestershire. The gleaners collected a colossal 3 tonnes of apples equal to 37,500 portions - and donated them via FareShare to a variety of charities dealing with food poverty all over the UK.

Some of the apples also made their way to the Castle Climb Café in London where they’ve been blended into Refu-juice. So far they’ve raised £450 to help refugees in Calais.

Thank you to all the volunteers involved! You can see more lovely autumn gleaning photos in the album here.

Did you know if food waste were a country it would be the third worst emitter of greenhouse gases? Food waste would come in just after the U.S. and China.

With the COP21 kicking off in Paris at the end of the month, Feeding the 5000 Portsmouth will continue to illuminate just how important tackling food waste is in the fight against climate change.

On 9 December at Guildhall Square, together with our fantastic partners we'll be serving up 5000 meals made entirely from food that would otherwise have been wasted. Tell your friends and family in Portsmouth to come join us for a festive and free lunch.

You can find more details on our website.

Sign up for the event on Facebook.

Or volunteer by completing this form.

 

We hope you'll join us on the frontlines of the fight against food waste,

Niki and the Feedback Team