West Sussex food rescue charity UKHarvest set to launch new monthly chat show in Food Waste Action Week

The new Food Waste Monthly will be launching during Food Waste Action Week in March with a pilot episode on the UKHarvest YouTube channel.

Simon Thresher, operations manager, explained: "It will be a chat show with cooking demonstrations using the most wasted food in the country, to show people what to do with the bits that are normally chucked away. We keep it simple and make it accessible."

The Chichester-based charity has a huge focus on education, so Food Waste Action Week activities will be all about raising awareness of the benefits of reducing wastage and ways of bringing food back into human consumption.

There is an innovative partnership with Tangmere Airfield Nurseries, for example, which finds ways to redistribute its peppers as a fresh crop or cooking ingredient.

Simon said by getting involved at pre-farm gate level, the charity was helping to reduce food waste even further.

He explained: "If it doesn't meet the needs of the supermarket that product will go to waste. So we take it out and sort it and pass it on. Before, they would have been binning it because they didn't have an outlet for it, and now they do."

A huge amount of fresh fruit and vegetables comes direct from the growers and this is sorted by volunteers at the UKHarvest warehouse in Donnington before being distributed to 16 community food hubs across West Sussex.

Many other items arrive in bulk and these are repackaged in smaller amounts by volunteers, to make them more accessible for food hub customers.

Nigel Boshein, food hub manager, said: "We are totally reliant on donations, so it is a constant battle. Most of the stuff is close to the sell by date, so it is frozen and then it is perfectly safe to pass on. It is a great way of recycling.

"What we have been growing is quite organic. It is such an amazing thing to be part of and at the hubs, you really see the gratitude of the people. What is really important about the hubs is that you are building a relationship with people."

Staff and volunteers say the feedback they get from people makes it all worthwhile. This year alone, 19,841 customers have used the food hubs, feeding 61,123 mouths, and 205,505kg of food has been diverted from landfill.

Some of the hubs run weekly, some fortnightly and some monthly. The Crawley, Storrington, Petworth, Haywards Heath, Worthing, Southwick and Bognor hubs are currently funded by West Sussex Recycles and Biffa, and the rest, including Midhurst, Petworth and several around Chichester, are funded externally.

The hubs are open to everyone to reduce food waste and provide food at an affordable price. Customers are asked to take their own bag and make a donation to select fresh, dry and frozen produce of their choice.

There are often volunteers from other charities, like Alzheimer's Society, available, as well as a range of information on services like Chichester District Council's Supporting You.

Donna Martin, community engagement officer, said: "People obviously come here for food but they often have other issues, so we provide a wrap-around service. It can be difficult to make that first step, so this gives them the opportunity to have a chat face to face. It also helps our volunteers and staff to be able signpost people to additional support.

"It is all very welcoming. We encourage people to take just what they need and try to ensure everyone has the same choice. We train volunteers on repurposing the surplus and how to prepare the produce, so they can advice customers on what to do with it."

Donna pointed out that 60 per cent of all food waste comes from the home. In West Sussex, 40 per cent of the rubbish thrown away is food waste and 27.7 per cent would have been edible.

Plans are in place to improve the offering at the seven supported food hubs next year, with a screen showing a cook along. There will be a monthly focus on the most wasted food, like bread, potatoes and milk.

An updated Eat Well, Spend Less booklet will also be launched exclusively for West Sussex in May, featuring 12 recipes and links to cook along videos.

The monthly hub at Southwick Community Centre launched last May and manager Paul Harding hopes to be able to expand the service by offering teas and coffees for customers, like some of the other food hubs.

Donna said: "The hub runs once a month. It is a top-up shop. Some people get their bag of food from the hub and then plan their main shopping around it.

"The three most wasted foods are bread, potatoes and milk and we want to show people how they can use these. We have got fabulous volunteers but we are always keen to recruit more."

Bulk products are often used for cooking demos, where they are handed out for people to take home to try the recipes, and some of the food goes to the charity's Nourish Hub in Shepherds Bush, a community kitchen that opened in 2022.

Jo Lodge, PR co-ordinator, said: "Because of how much food we are rescuing, there are lots of opportunities for people to get on board. We had 85 volunteers in 2023 and that has now gone up to 174.

"We are getting more food donations from supermarkets, so there is a good mix of stuff. A lot of stuff comes in in bulk, so the volunteers will break it down into smaller packages for people.

"Last summer, we started rescuing products before they go into the food chain. They are things that, for various reasons, are not suitable for supermarkets and this saves time and money. This is a new thing that we will be expanding this year.

"We are trying to encourage people to use the food they buy and reduce food waste at home. Nobody wants to see any waste and I think people are grateful that we are saving food."

Visit www.ukharvest.org.uk for more information and find UKHarvest on YouTube for recipe tips and cooking demonstrations.

The charity shares low-cost, healthy recipes and top tips to make the most of ingredients found in the home while cooking a delicious meal. The sessions help avoid food waste and save people money.