In London, the Felix Project recently found that one in 10 working households spends less than £3 a day on breakfast, lunch and dinner. The need for additional support is very real, which is why it’s important that as many restaurants as possible sign up to the Restaurant Feed London campaign. Last year, 170,000 working parents had to rely on food banks for the first time to ensure they had enough food to feed their families. In fact, a survey of more than 2,000 working parents in London found that one in four struggle with it on a regular basis.
The city is clearly facing a hunger crisis, and these numbers are not just isolated numbers. They are society’s most vulnerable workers and children who go to school hungry. An astonishing 40% of children in London have experienced food insecurity in the last month, compared to a national figure of 29%. All children have the right to education, but to get the most out of it they must be healthy and nourished.
The Felix Project is London’s largest food relief charity. We rescue high-quality surplus food that would otherwise go to waste. He then sorts and delivers it to more than 1,000 community organizations, including 170 schools across the capital. 67% of food waste in London is edible, and while most of it is generated at home, much of it comes from retailers, manufacturers, hospitality and catering.
We work with all sectors of the food industry, including restaurants, which play an important role in the supply chain. Redistributing surplus food not only has a direct impact on those most in need in society, but also has significant economic and environmental benefits for restaurants. It is estimated that food waste costs restaurants around £682 million a year.
But it’s an uphill battle as the demand for aid far exceeds the available supply. Last year we rescued over 13,000 tonnes of food from 322 different suppliers and were lucky to have thousands of amazing volunteers who helped us sort and deliver this food, but our work is expensive and requires additional support to rescue more food and feed more. people.
Too many food banks are at breaking point, and we recently found that 89% of the organizations we support expect demand to increase this year. This is not just about existing relationships. There are over 630 organizations on the waiting list.
In May and June last year, we launched our first restaurant partnership campaign, now known as Restaurant Feed London, to help continue our food waste redistribution work in London. By adding optional donations to customers’ bills at nine partner restaurants, he raised more than £30,000 to feed Londoners. This equates to an estimated 91,000 meals.
This summer we want to make Restaurant Feed London bigger and better, serving over 250,000 meals. To do that, we need more restaurants to support us by adding an optional £1 donation to their bill for nine weeks this summer, from World Hunger Day on May 28th to July 31st.
With the help of partners such as London restaurants, they have been able to supply the organizations most in need, such as the Lewisham Giving Hub, and are now able to provide consistent support to over 1,000 people each week. “Now it’s like that.” Or as Woodside Elementary School says, our supplies are “a way to engage families and bring the school community together.”
We need your help to enable our eco-friendly vans to hit the roads every day and redistribute these vital resources. For every 100 pounds collected, we can deliver 290 meals.If you would like your restaurant to help feed London, please email us [email protected]Learn more.