Before the last general election, the then-Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced at the NFU conference that there would be funds set aside to support food redistribution charities in their work with farmers across England. 

A working group was established, made up of the heads of the major redistributors – City Harvest, Fare Share, the Felix Project and The Bread and Butter Thing – working together so that any programme resulting from this initiative benefitted growers, didn’t create competition and ensured that outgraded great English produce fed those desperately in need of food aid. 

There is a wide range of projects across England benefitting from this initiative, which is all about the food waste hierarchy; ensuring that people get fed before waste/surplus heads into other streams like anaerobic digestion (AD) plants or animal feed. 

Growers grow because they want to deliver healthy food, grown in a world class environment; farmers are all driven to feed people and I know how much it hurts when parts of the crop don’t make the grade.  At a simple level, this is also about cost reduction. If it’s edible, don’t pay for an AD tipper; let us come and collect it, grade it and share it with someone in need.

I am delighted that Harvest For Hunger will expand. City Harvest will work with more UK growers collecting and holding fresh produce as you would in your stores and packhouses.

As an Ifco (International Food Container Organization) partner, City Harvest can de-hire your crates if you need us to collect rejected stock, and will also return your field bins to you, promptly.  We will also be broadening the scope of our gleaning programme, piloted by James Smith at Loddington Farm last year, and have teams of our corporate and community volunteers standing by, keen to recover any fruits or vegetables left behind after the commercial pick. 

Having personally experienced ‘less good’ gleaning teams, trust me, our team will be well supervised. The whole programme is carefully designed and insured and we always remain responsible for our people.

So, how does it work?  We’ve tried hard to keep it simple and hope you will join us in improving the diet of the 20% of the UK who can’t afford food now.

For farms and packers:

  1. Ring City Harvest and speak to a man called Ben, who will either arrange a visit so you can learn more about us and how we can help reduce your waste bill or organise an immediate collection. 
  2. A named account manager will be your point of contact for collections, packaging return and reporting.
  3. Our lorry will be dispatched to collect your donation at a time that suits you.
  4. We will give you a report on your donation and arrange for bins/crates to be off-hired or returned to you

If you would like to host a gleaning team:

  1. Ring City Harvest and ask to speak to Josh or Kathryn.
  2. We will conduct a risk assessment, share our insurance details and confirm what/where we will be harvesting.
  3. Details of the day will be confirmed with you in advance, with
    City Harvest taking responsibility for picking equipment, containers and people.
  4. We will collect the harvested crop the same day/next morning and do everything we can to minimise the impact on your operation.
  5. You will receive an impact report showing the social impact of your donation.

Ring City Harvest and ask for Ben 0207 041 8491. Ben looks after farms and will either arrange a visit so you can learn more about us and how we can help reduce your waste bill or organise an immediate collection. Or visit the website and make an online enquiry.

www.Cityharvest.org.uk/harvest-for-hunger

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