Food banks, community larders and payment

I'm not disputing that Callistemon. I don't use Olio, but I understand private households give away unwanted food from the household - maybe if they're going on holiday and have fresh produce they won't use or have bought tins on offer and then find out they don't like it.

It doesn't detract from the issue of supermarket and wholesaler waste, so if schemes can prevent it going into landfill, it has to be good.

growstuff

Callistemon21

To put it into context, somebody who works in the local Tesco superstore told me they throw away £1.5 million worth of food every year

Yes. It is quite shocking.

However, the woman from the Community Fridge told ius that most wasted food is from households.

The scheme I use doesn't take food from households.

I don't mean it's donated but that it is thrown away, unused, by people who have bought it.

The biggest contributor to food waste in the UK is households, making up 70% of the overall total; overall food waste produced by the UK fell by around 15% between 2007 and 2018.
www.ons.gov.uk/economy/environmentalaccounts/articles/areviewofhouseholdbehaviourinrelationtofoodwasterecyclingenergyuseandairtravel/2021-11-01
Latest release

I'm not sure if this is relevant, but when I suggested a 'pay what you can' arrangement, I was thinking of a conversation I had with someone recently. She was talking about a coffee shop arrangement which had become a 'warm space' and offered free coffee and cake one day a week. She made a point of saying that she always offered to pay, and that she didn't need free coffee. I felt that this was thoughtless, as the people she was with may not have had spare money, and IMO there shouldn't be a 2 tier system that could make people feel inferior - either it is free or it isn't. A 'pay what you can' donation to cover room hire etc is different, in that it should be anonymous and not happen with fanfare.

Callistemon21

^To put it into context, somebody who works in the local Tesco superstore told me they throw away £1.5 million worth of food every year^

Yes. It is quite shocking.

However, the woman from the Community Fridge told ius that most wasted food is from households.

The scheme I use doesn't take food from households.

The supplier I use runs six collection points a week - each lasting an hour - in different places. There are no restrictions on who can collect food and I know there are people from outside specific towns and villages. The only restriction is that you can only have one bag. It's all very civilised and I've never seen anybody trying to take mountains of food. I think if you tried to introduce restrictions or charges, it would destroy the community "feel", as it would become too formal.

As I wrote, it's free, as is a cup of tea or coffee. It's run by a group, which also runs other community events such as cheap meals (for a small charge) and films. It has its own permanent base and receives a grant from the council. It's taken over some of the work previously carried out by SureStart and other community organisations.

There are many Community Fridges in the UK and I saw this online:

Volunteers collect surplus food donated by supermarkets, local retailers and other sources, and make it available free of charge to anyone who can use it

So free of charge to anyone.

They usually set up a Facebook page and sometimes there will be a message on FB saying they have an extra large donation of surplus items from a supermarket, please come and collect at a certain time.

Thank you all for your considered and helpful comments - very much appreciated. We have a meeting tomorrow so I'll share your thoughts/ideas

GN at its best!

Hmm, tricky one. If you emphasise the 'not being thrown into landfill' reason it is hard to request donations, what about a collection tin for your local foodbank so you then have no issues of accounting as GSM detailed? Voluntary donations of course, and away from where people pick up the food so nobody feels shamed into donating? Mind you, even £1 can help. A great initiative.

To put it into context, somebody who works in the local Tesco superstore told me they throw away £1.5 million worth of food every year

Yes. It is quite shocking.

However, the woman from the Community Fridge told ius that most wasted food is from households.

Jaxjacky

My daughter uses a similar scheme to growstuff but it’s £5, this covers food being collected, refrigeration if necessary and a degree of admin. You register online the day before that you’ll be collecting, the food would otherwise be dumped and is principally from Waitrose and M&S.
If your overheads are covered somehow Katek I wouldn’t charge.

Most of the food in my scheme is fresh veg, fruit and bread, so doesn't need refrigeration. There are vacuum packed bags of ham from a local farm shop and a very small amount of ready meals/sandwiches, which fits in to a large insulated picnic box.

The food is usually a day after it's "best before" date and is sometimes very ripe, but usable. I find it will keep in the fridge for a couple of days or, sometimes, in the freezer. Tomatoes, for example, are usually on the soft side, so I freeze them and cook them.

The food comes from all the local supermarkets, the farm shop and a local fruit/veg wholesaler.

I think £5 is too much and would put people off. I'd certainly think twice. To put it into context, somebody who works in the local Tesco superstore told me they throw away £1.5 million worth of food every year.

I volunteer at a local Community Larder open for a couple of hours each week but ours was set up by Sofea www.sofea.uk.com/purpose-projects/community-larder/
and has a £3.50 per week charge.
It's very popular, well used and we also push the food waste side of things.
I think we will soon be expanding it so people can bring their surplus allotment produce.

Yes, a voluntary donation rather than a charge, if it is necessary at all to pay bills eg electricity.

Some people may not even have a couple of pounds left after paying essential bills.

Oops , posted too soon
By all means make a donation towards costs if you are able but the real idea is to stop so much food wastage.

We have a community larder in our smallish town.
No charge , put in any extras you have or take something if you can use it.
I certainly don’t think there should be a set charge as you might only be able to use 1 banana or a couple of carrots.

As has been said, the unknown variable is both what is donated and in what quantities. Speaking as a foodbank volunteer who has regularly collected surplus from supermarkets a problem you may have is food with a very short shelf life. Bread, fruit and vegetables are at the end of their shop shelf life and giving it away quickly enough may be your biggest challenge. Good luck with the venture.

It's always being stressed it's to stop food going to landfill rather than being a foodbank for the poor

The same here.
The speaker urged us to use it as otherwise food goes to waste and they have to pay to get rid of it!

The information on ours says it is supported by the County Council but whether that is funding or allowing them to use premises free of charge, I don't know.

They also hold quiz and other social events to raise money. They give talks to local groups to raise awareness and I think charge a small fee which goes into funds.

My daughter uses a similar scheme to growstuff but it’s £5, this covers food being collected, refrigeration if necessary and a degree of admin. You register online the day before that you’ll be collecting, the food would otherwise be dumped and is principally from Waitrose and M&S.
If your overheads are covered somehow Katek I wouldn’t charge.

I think the one here is free but I'm not sure how they are funded as I think they were allowed premises rent-free but have to pay for electricity for fridges etc.
One organiser said there have been times when she's had so much surplus bread from supermarkets she has just been giving it away to passersby.
Can you find out how other schemes are run?

There are a few community larder/fridge type schemes in my area and some don't charge at all, whereas I know there are a couple which charge a nominal fee to join, and that then entitles you to a certain number of items per week. Some also restrict membership to people living in particular postcode areas.

I wouldn't charge but I would limit the number of things at each visit maybe even the number of visits per week. Do you need to state what day your supplies will come in?
I would also put a tin out for voluntary contributions towards heating and refrigeration?
One more thought how are you planning to restrict it to your own villagers?
I ask because having lived in a village where a coffee morning was held with a voluntary contribution for the next week's tea and biscuits. The surplus was used for a Christmas buffet and was certainly abused by people from other villages who we never saw except at the Christmas buffet.
A lovely idea and how kind of you all to set it up.

Incidentally, I don't think it's necessary to have a ready supply of high need items. I don't think anybody relies on it to supply all their food needs.

Sometimes, there are loads of boxes of carrots, mushrooms, parsnips or spring greens (for example). I take whatever is available and the look for recipes to use what I have - and I've always managed to find some use for everything I've taken.

With food donated free, you've a fairly clean sheet at the moment, as regards potential problems. In my experience, the moment you introduce money into an equation, the more troublesome it becomes. I see that you're considering using any donations to cover overheads such as room hire, electricity etc., but a cleaner solution might be to look for a sponsor or sponsors, who would not only keep you out of the loop, but may also be able to claim their costs against tax, in particular if you look at obtaining charitable status. Whatever you decide, good luck with this worthy project.

I use a scheme like this most weeks and I've posted some of the food I've had in the "Food" section of GN.

The scheme is free and even includes a cup of tea or coffee, if people want to stay for a chat. I've offered to pay a donation in the past, but it's been refused.

I know the scheme receives some support from the local council. It takes place in the local baptist church, so I assume there's no charge for room hire. I assume funding is used for volunteers' expenses, such as fuel to collect the food.

We're allowed to take one bag and can't touch the food ourselves for health and safety reasons, but also so that people don't take loads. The volunteers hand out all the food. We can queue up again and go round a second time, if we want.

I wouldn't mind paying a small amount, but I think it might ruin the friendly atmosphere. Obviously, I use the scheme to save money, but the regulars are quite a mixed bunch. It's always being stressed it's to stop food going to landfill rather than being a foodbank for the poor.

If you’re using the village hall for such a useful purpose I would expect it to be given free of charge provided you leave it clean and tidy,