Attachments
24 Apr 2020
Waste Knot Increases Supply of Surplus Fruit and Vegetables to Charities in Wake of Covid-19 Crisis and Believes There Will Be a Permanent Shift in How UK-Grown Produce Is Valued
Tags: Covid19, Waste Knot, Surplus food, charity, Farmers
The Covid-19 crisis has seen an unprecedented demand on food redistribution charities from vulnerable and low income households. Alongside this, there is a marked increase in surplus fruit and vegetables due to the closure of all restaurants and pubs. These factors create a stronger motivation for growers to provide surplus produce to food redistribution charities. Waste Knot is working to connect growers like Worcestershire's FerryFast with charity Fare Share to generate a cost-neutral source of income, guarantee work for farm staff, facilitate the supply of fresh produce to people who need it and to prevent perfectly good food from going to waste.
Waste Knot, which was founded in 2016 to create a market for farmers to supply misshapen and surplus vegetables to hospitality, catering and charities, already had systems in place to provide food and vegetables though Fare Share's 'Surplus for Purpose' fund (part of a £15m DEFRA scheme to tackle food waste and allow redistribution charities to take surpluses from producers on a cost-neutral basis). From January to March 2020, FerryFast and WasteKnot donated 131 tonnes of fresh vegetables to 2200 community organisations via FareShare, enough for an estimated 312,006 meals for people in need. Since the Covid-19 began these volumes have increased significantly, to 82,100kg between mid March and mid April.
Peter Osborne, MD of FerryFast says: “Covid-19 has brought much grief and hardship, however, positives will come from it too. Working with Fare Share and Waste Knot provides a solution for otherwise unwanted produce and enables us to support a part of the community so often forgotten. We've been working together with Fare Share to serve the community whilst reducing waste since July 2019 and will continue to do so. If this period teaches us anything as a nation, I hope it teaches us that life is indeed precious and so is food! Let's waste less and find a use for everything we source and produce.”
Jess Latchford, Waste Knot's founder, believes that there are many changes afoot once we emerge from this crisis: “We will see changes in attitude to eating more of what we can grow in the UK, eating seasonably, supporting home-grown business and appreciating the people who grow and produce our food as well as the importance of nature and each other.”
Jess continues: “When adversity hits like it has done over the last few weeks, there is no end of determination and no limit to what can be achieved when the right mode of thinking is employed. It is clear that this time has highlighted the need for us to examine, explore and react to our current ways of working such as our reliance on the global market. This period is giving us the luxury of time to look in from the outside and to make judgments on how we can live better, more wholly, more gratefully and in harmony with the environment.”
High resolution images: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/koo7x818x60ci8m/AAA5tEOoZtmxtkrSV1X3rUdTa?dl=0
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MEDIA CONTACT
Media enquiries: Polly Robinson
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ABOUT WASTE KNOT
Waste Knot was born to offer chefs and farmers the opportunity to work together in the fight against food waste and to repurpose their unloved surplus. Founded in 2016 by Jess Latchford, Waste Knot was born out of Jess's experience of working in fresh produce supply and distribution. Jess saw first hand just how much quality produce went to waste because of its looks or just because it was surplus. Jess believes surplus and 'wonky' veg shouldn't be any less-valued after all it costs the same to grow, harvest and transport. Waste Knot creates a market for farmers to supply all misshapen and surplus vegetables to wholesalers, caterers including Sodexo and Compass as well as restaurants such as Church Road and Parlour and members' clubs such as Allbright.
The ambition is to make sure the farmer is paid and receives a commercial value for produce at the same time as helping the hospitality sector to enhance its sustainability credentials, and, most importantly, reducing food waste by ensuring that food that is usable and edible is put to good use.
Waste Knot also offer staff training, ensuring that all those involved in the process, from growing and harvesting the produce to those buying and using it are fully engaged and aware of the impact they can have.
A WRAP report * released in July 2019 states that 'the total amount of food surplus and waste is 3.6 million tonnes per annum, or 7.2% of all food harvested. If this wasted and surplus food had been sold at market values, it would have had a value of £1.2 billion.' Jess says: “Heartbreakingly, it is common practice for this produce to have various fates: ploughed back into the ground, sent to landfill, burnt, sent to anaerobic-digestion or used for animal feed. Nobody wins in these circumstances. Waste Knot aims to turn perceptions on their head and challenge the archaic processes that have been the norm for years and years.”
ABOUT JESS LATCHFORD
Jess has been involved in the fresh produce industry for over 12 years with roles at farm wholesalers Secretts Direct and as founder fresh produce marketing company Fresh Engage.
She certainly knows her onions when it comes to the joys and challenges of farming. Having been the matchmaker between those growing glorious produce and those working their magic on it in the hospitality industry.Jess's is an experienced speaker at industry events including Food & Drink Expo, London Produce Day and Women in the Food Industry. She has contributed to a DEFRA panel and written for Fresh Produce Journal.
Jess isn't happier than when knee-deep in mud in a cauliflower field or scaling the dizzy heights of plum trees!
