Food redistribution has ramped up in the UK, but are charities stuck in a competitive mindset and hampering efforts to help people in need?
The otherwise disastrous pandemic seemed to have at least one positive impact on food and drink. It united the industry and the charity sector in seeking to prioritise the war on hunger. From supermarket food box schemes to the high-profile campaign, fronted by Manchester United star Marcus Rashford, to fund free school meals during school holidays, food redistribution became front-page news, and the industry acted almost as a fifth emergency service.
But the battle to feed deprived Britain was not over. The latest figures show the total amount of food redistributed in 2022, the year after the pandemic, increased by 27% or about 29,000 tonnes compared with the previous year. And with demand continuing to soar as a result of the cost of living crisis, late last year a campaign led by King Charles once again catapulted the issue to the top of the agenda, aiming to unlock tens of thousands more tonnes of food. Yet among the growing number of charities vying to get hold of the surplus generated by the food industry, tensions have been rising beneath the surface.
Demand from food banks has resulted in huge competition for the limited (albeit large) amount of surplus food from suppliers and supermarkets and has ignited a fierce debate over how best to use it.
America is three times more efficient than the UK when it comes to food redistribution. The current competitive regime in the UK is less efficient and can result in volume being moved from one type of charity to another – that’s a really bad outcome for the end beneficiaries.
The best option would be to map the existing sources of surplus and create an integrated UK network for efficient redistribution. That way both the food industry and end beneficiaries have the best service and make the most efficient use of collective resources.
Supply should be targeted to charities that have the highest community impact, like school clubs and community centres, and those that can use more of the other sources like WIP by cooking in larger batches. Since Covid, too many charities have defaulted to handing food out. They need to get more of them back to cooking, bringing communities together, and addressing the root causes of food insecurity.
Competing for food is not the answer. The reality is there is simply not lots of extra, easy-to-use surplus available. Capacity amongst charities already outstrips supply, and all charities are desperate for more food. Which is why competing against each other is not the answer.