Food Rescue in West Sussex

Did you know, in West Sussex food waste makes up 40% of the average household residual bin?

The West Sussex Waste Prevention Team are working with the food partnerships across the county to encourage our residents to share their surplus food, in order to help those in food poverty and prevent this terrible wastage.

Since the COVID-19 pandemic’s beginning in March 2020 there has been significant changes to food behaviours in the UK which have been unfortunate for many. Sustain UK estimates that 8.4 million people in the UK are living in food poverty, with BAME, disabled and older people worst affected. Pre-lockdown, in 2019-20, a record high of nearly 2m people in the UK used a food bank, according to the Trussell Trust. The numbers are estimated to have increased hugely due to the pandemic, hence why redistributing food would help residents in West Sussex. Below are some of the services available to you for redistributing food in the county:

OLIO OLIO connects neighbours with each other, and local food businesses so surplus food can be shared and not thrown away. All users need to do is simply snap a photo of their spare items and add it to the app. Neighbours who live nearby can see if anything takes their fancy, and if so request it! Everything on OLIO is always offered for free and can be picked up Covid-safe. Food is shared when it is nearing its sell-by date, is spare home-grown vegetables, or when residents are going away and will not use it. OLIO was created to try and prevent food waste and help the global issue of climate change, as food waste is one of the world’s largest emitters of greenhouse gases. The app has been used in over 50 countries and shared over 1.6 million items between neighbours!

Community Fridges…these are refrigerators located in a public space which enable food to be shared within a community. Spare food is dropped off here by community members of small businesses to be rescued and shared amongst those who need it. The Fare Divide Community Group (faredivide.org.uk) have set up community fridges in Littlehampton and Horsham, where perishable items are free for collection by community members. They also run outreach pop-up community fridges in East Preston, Angmering and Rustington.

The team do not want a certain food at certain times, just generally lots of food on an ongoing basis for people in the community in need of it. They would appreciate any donations.

Food Banks…often community organisations aimed at supporting people who cannot afford the essentials in life. They normally provide people with a food parcel of three days' nutritionally balanced, non-perishable food. There are many foodbanks spread across the county which accept donations including: cereal, soup, pasta, rice, tinned tomatoes, pasta sauce, lentils, tinned meat, tinned vegetables, tea or coffee, tinned fruit, biscuits, UHT milk, and fruit juice. You can also donate by adding additional items to your in-store food shop and leaving these items in the donation trolley located near the exit.

To find out more on how you can reduce food waste and help others see @wsrecycles on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook

Notice Date: 01/03/2021