Almost 50% of the total amount of food thrown away in the UK comes from homes. This equates to 7 million tonnes of food and drink each year, and more than half of this is food we could have eaten.

·         4600 KILOCALORIES per day of food are harvested for every person on the planet; of these, only around 2000 on average are eaten – more than half of it is lost on the way.

BOOK YOUR FREE PLACE HERE. 

Waste Not Want Not brings together a wealth of inspiration and experience from activists keen to reduce food waste and find new ways to make sure everyone has access to good food. Chaired by Ian Tennant this won’t be a case of telling us what to do – more a case of sharing some view points and inviting us all to join the discussion on what we can do to make an impact both nationally and locally. Locally initiatives such as Food Cycle, Peterborough in Transition and the Women’s Institute will provide solid examples of what is already happening locally as well as offering ways to get involved.

About the panel:

Corin Bell is Director of Manchester’s Real Junk Food Project (RJFP). She is also a trustee at the Real Junk Food Charitable Foundation, which launched towards the end of last year and supports sustainable and food waste projects across the UK. Corin started the Real Junk Food Project Manchester after becoming disillusioned with existing models attempting to tackle food waste and food poverty. Social exclusion is increasingly affecting our society, and a great number of projects that target those in food poverty also segregate and isolate those people from the mainstream. She became interested in alternate economic models and operates Real Junk Food Manchester on a pay-as-you-feel basis. Their project also aims to balance practical action with constant campaigning to shift our broken food system. She feels very strongly that when working in a social or environmental problem, the only ethical stance is to aim to make your role redundant by creating a system where you are no longer needed.

Read more about Corin and the Real Junk Food Project here:

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/first-food-waste-supermarket-uk-leeds-real-junk-food-project-a7317906.html

http://therealjunkfoodproject.org/

https://www.theguardian.com/membership/2015/jul/03/the-real-junk-food-projects-corin-bell-on-fighting-food-waste-in-manchester

·         Food Cycle is a national charity that combines volunteers, surplus food and spare kitchen spaces to create tasty, nutritious meals for people at risk of food poverty and social isolation. The Peterborough Food Cycle was set up earlier this year and serves tasty three-course meals on Thursdays (12.30 – 2pm) from Westgate Church. They provide communal dining experiences to those in need or anyone who wishes to attend.

·         Find out more at: http://foodcycle.org.uk

Vera Zakharov is the Love Food Hate Waste Project Coordinator at the Brighton & Hove Food Partnership. She works across sectors in Brighton & Hove to support a joined up effort to tackle food waste and promote more food-sharing. Since 2010, the project has worked with individuals, community groups, food businesses, the council, universities, and projects utilising surplus food in promoting and facilitating the actions outlined in the Food Waste Hierarchy.  Vera is also the Sussex Gleaning Coordinator for the Gleaning Network UK, coordinating volunteers, farmers and food redistribution charities to harvest farm surplus produce and direct this fresh, nutritious food to people in need. The project aims to raise awareness about the urgent issue of food waste on farms, and to change the retailer policies and consumer cultures that lead to this waste.

More info about food waste action in Brighton & Hove: http://bhfood.org.uk/Blog/top-10-fabulous-food-waste-projects-in-our-city

More info about the Gleaning Network: http://feedbackglobal.org/campaigns/gleaning-network/

Info & video about Feeding the 5000 Brighton: http://bhfood.org.uk/feeding-the-5000-brighton

The Women’s Institute: We are joined by representatives from peterborough and Huntingdon WI. Formed in 1915, the WI has a long history of campaigning on a wide range of issues. WI Campaigns are about changing things for the better and tackling the issues that matter to members.83% of delegates voted in support of the NFWIs 2016 resolution to ‘avoid food waste and address food poverty’. The resolution calls on supermarkets to sign up to a voluntary agreement to avoid food waste, as well as to pass surplus food on to charities to help address the issue of food poverty in the UK.

Find out more at: https://www.thewi.org.uk/campaigns/current-campaigns-and-initiatives/avoid-food-waste,-address-food-poverty