A project to help householders cut food waste, eat more healthily and save money is celebrating a funding boost.
Feedback Global has received £19,900 from the Merseyside Recycling and Waste Authority (MRWA) Community Fund to run the Your Food Needs YOU! scheme, which delivers cookery workshops and events to raise awareness of and help reduce household food waste.
An estimated 140,000 tonnes of food is wasted in the Liverpool City Region each year.
Much of this could still be used and would save the average family £720 a year in groceries. It is this behaviour the project is hoping to change.
Carina Millstone, Executive Director at Feedback Global, said: “We pride ourselves in creating volunteer opportunities and skills on food waste issues for everyone, everywhere, of all ages and ability.
“At the heart of our work is a deep appreciation for the value of food, the role of good food in building communities and the need for local and regional work to build regenerative, regional circular food economies that support positive environmental, health and social outcomes.
“Funding from MRWA will allow us to adapt our successful model of taking local action on food waste, whilst raising broader public awareness of the issue.”
The project delivers a programme of high-profile food-waste-busting events and ingredient harvesting days that bring members of the community together to learn about, appreciate and enjoy food and simultaneously reduce waste.
One part of the programme includes running experimental ‘Food Labs’ which asks participants to bring in five food items from home.
They are shown how to extend the shelf life of the items and create healthy meals from the ingredients.
It was originally planned that classes would be delivered in person, however, due to Coronavirus and social distancing measures they have mostly been held digitally, including an online cabbage pickling workshop that ran on Global Scouse Day.
By the end of the project in June Feedback hope to have:
– trained up 20-40 Community members to help deliver messages of food waste and act as local food champions,
– engaged 285 people increasing their practical food skills, appreciation of food value and knowledge of the environmental impact of food waste,
– prevented the waste of around 2268kg of commonly wasted household foods through increased food waste avoidance skills among participants.
Feedback’s Merseyside-based project Alchemic Kitchen delivers the scheme, with the social enterprise experienced in minimising waste, building the circular food economy and improving access to seasonal, nutritious food.
Locals residents can even sign up and make a Food Pledge at www.alchemickitchen.co.uk.
Lucy Antal at Alchemic Kitchen said: “At the heart of ‘Your Food Needs YOU!’ is a message about the value of food and the environmental and climate impacts of wasting it.
“In addition to reducing food waste, we anticipate that participants will be more aware of wider links between what we eat, climate change and biodiversity loss, such as reducing how much meat we eat.”
Carl Beer, Chief Executive of MRWA, said: “Food waste is a big issue with significant environmental effects.
“Projects like Your Food Needs You can get people to recognise that the food they buy exists within a circular economy – from farm to fork – while having a real impact in reducing household food waste.”
