City Harvest (United Kingdom)

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City Harvest London is a charitable organisation focused on alleviating food insecurity and food waste across London. City Harvest feeds over 12,000 Londoners a day with quality, nutritious, surplus food from a myriad of food producers. City Harvest delivers food to over 350 organisations and projects in London that serve almost every vulnerable group in the capital including but not limited to; children, refugees, families, women facing domestic violence, the homeless. Food often acts as a tool that breaks down barriers between organisations and their users and becomes a gateway to services which address other societal issues. [1]

Contents

History

City Harvest is London's first last-mile food rescue organisation, founded in 2014 after operating for 4 years as UR4Driving project which was run by Mark Harvey and Bruce Marquart. A group of individuals, including Laura Winningham OBE (CEO), began the organisation to address high levels of unused, but perfectly edible, food surplus that was being wasted by food businesses across London. [2] The model was originally based on other international food rescue organisations, but was quickly adapted to suit the London city-scape. In London, an estimated amount of 13.3 million meals is wasted whilst at the same time 9.2 million meals are missed by people living in food poverty. [3]

Since its founding, City Harvest has delivered over 20,000,000 meals worth of food to Londoners in need from its depot in Acton, West London. [4]

Goals

The goal of City Harvest London is to put surplus food to use in a sustainable way by distributing it to over 350+ organisations around London that feed the hungry. [5] Using a fleet of refrigerated vans, City Harvest collects in-date surplus food from supermarkets, restaurants, manufacturers, caterers (including those running at exhibition centres such as Kensington Olympia), and other food businesses, and distributes it to community programmes in their network. [6]

The charity claims to provide a solution to hunger, malnutrition, food insecurity, food waste, and greenhouse gas emissions [7] and is data-driven to constantly improve and evolve the growing operation. The charity provides fresh fruit, vegetables, meat, fish, poultry, and other products to organisations and projects across London, serving free meals to vulnerable individuals. Some of the organisations they work with include FoodCycle, The American Church Soup Kitchen, St Mary The Boltons and St Andrew Holborn, among 350 others. [8] Generally, many of the partnered charitable organisations will be multifunctional, not only offering free meals or food parcels with City Harvest surplus, but a whole host of services including; support and consultation, alcoholism and addiction rehabilitation, pro-bono legal advice, activities and clubs for children, respite for carers, emergency response for domestic violence, refuge for homeless, youth workshops, probation services, to name only a few.

City Harvest also works to create research on the scope of food poverty and food waste in London, statistics which are not yet tracked on a governmental level. Through their research, City Harvest has calculated that 9 million meals are needed per month to alleviate food insecurity in London. [9]

City Harvest is a founding member of Xcess: The Independent Food Redistribution Network, [10] made up of a group of likeminded organisations who sustainably repurpose surplus food in the UK to alleviate food poverty. This taskforce was established to harness the power of surplus food and to develop an innovative food redistribution model that seeks sustainable solutions to contemporary issues of food waste and insecurity.  

Achievements

City Harvest London’s operation to feed vulnerable community members, reduce and repurpose food waste and combat climate change, among other key goals, currently meets 9 of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. [3]

In April 2018, the organisation delivered its two millionth recycled meal. [11] By March 2019, it had served 5 million meals, and prevented 6,200 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions. [12] May 2021 saw City Harvest's 7th Anniversary and the biggest milestone yet: 20 million meals delivered to date [13]

Laura Winningham OBE (CEO) was awarded an OBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours List 2020 for services to the community in London during the Covid-19. The work of City Harvest London was recognised as an outstanding emergency response to food waste and poverty before, during, and beyond, COVID-19. [14]

In the Media

The Macallan, Javi Aznarez & City Harvest

In October 2020, Sotheby's auctioned The Macallan Red Collection, an extremely rare set with unique labels designed by graphic artist Javi Aznarez. The Red Collection comprises Macallan's oldest ongoing aged expressions [...] and oldest bottlings the brand has ever released. The labels feature illustrations of Macallan greats: Alexander Reid, Roderick Kemp and Allan Shiach. [15] The lot was sold at Sotheby's on Halloween for £756,400 with all proceeds going to City Harvest. In City Harvest terms, this equates to 2.5 million meals. [16]

Distil your World: London Edition, The Macallan, Amazon Prime, Roca Brothers & City Harvest

City Harvest prides itself as being part of the fabric of London, as demonstrated in The Macallan series: Distil Your World. [17] Distil your world was part of a 'sensorial journey through one of the world's greatest capital cities'. The Amazon Prime documentary follows the Macallan Whisky Maker, Steven Bremner, and the Roca brothers, as they explore the city from different perspectives including food, culture, innovation, and community spirit. The documentary benefit City Harvest London through its online promotion via Good-Loop, a media vendor that enables brands to support charities through their advertising campaigns. [18] [19]

Regeneration: Food with Max La Manna, BBC Earth

BBC Earth Regeneration: Food Series 1: Episode 5 [20] entitled 'Waste' features an interview with City Harvest CEO, Laura Winningham, as part of sustainability advocate and author La Manna's mini-series on food sustainability. In this episode, La Manna explores the reality of food waste in the UK, and how it is mitigated through sustainable solutions that City Harvest offers, as well as the likes of SILO and Too Good to Go.

Related Research Articles

World Food Programme Food-assistance branch of the United Nations

The World Food Programme (WFP) is the food-assistance branch of the United Nations. It is the world's largest humanitarian organization, the largest one focused on hunger and food security, and the largest provider of school meals. Founded in 1961, it is headquartered in Rome and has offices in 80 countries. As of 2019, it served 97 million people in 88 countries, the largest since 2012, with two-thirds of its activities conducted in conflict zones.

Hunger Sustained inability to eat sufficient food

In politics, humanitarian aid, and the social sciences, hunger is defined as a condition in which a person does not have the physical or financial capability to eat sufficient food to meet basic nutritional needs for a sustained period. In the field of hunger relief, the term hunger is used in a sense that goes beyond the common desire for food that all humans experience. The most extreme form of hunger, when malnutrition is widespread, and when people have started dying of starvation through lack of access to sufficient, nutritious food, leads to a declaration of famine.

Food security Measure of the availability and accessibility of food

Food security is the measure of the availability of food and individuals' ability to access it. According to the United Nations' Committee on World Food Security, food security is defined as meaning that all people, at all times, have physical, social, and economic access to sufficient, safe, and nutritious food that meets their food preferences and dietary needs for an active and healthy life. The availability of food irrespective of class, gender or region is another one. There is evidence of food security being a concern many thousands of years ago, with central authorities in ancient China and ancient Egypt being known to release food from storage in times of famine. At the 1974 World Food Conference, the term "food security" was defined with an emphasis on supply; food security is defined as the "availability at all times of adequate, nourishing, diverse, balanced and moderate world food supplies of basic foodstuffs to sustain a steady expansion of food consumption and to offset fluctuations in production and prices". Later definitions added demand and access issues to the definition. The first World Food Summit, held in 1996, stated that food security "exists when all people, at all times, have physical and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food to meet their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life."

Food bank Non-profit, charitable organization that distributes food

A food bank is a non-profit, charitable organization that distributes food to those who have difficulty purchasing enough to avoid hunger, usually through intermediaries like food pantries and soup kitchens. Some food banks distribute food directly with their own food pantries.

WhyHunger is a non-profit registered 501(c)(3) organization working to end hunger and poverty by connecting people to nutritious, affordable food and by supporting grassroots solutions that inspire self-reliance and community empowerment. The organization is based on the belief that solutions and innovations are often found in the grassroots, and therefore works with more than 8,000 community-based groups across the world and has impact in 30 countries. These groups help people to help themselves through food production, job-training programs, nutrition education, community economic development, healthcare workshops, youth programming, leadership development and more. WhyHunger’s mission is to end hunger and advance the human right to nutritious food in the U.S. and around the world.

Feeding America US nonprofit organization and food bank network

Feeding America is a United States–based nonprofit organization that is a nationwide network of more than 200 food banks that feed more than 46 million people through food pantries, soup kitchens, shelters, and other community-based agencies. Forbes ranks it as the second largest U.S. charity by revenue. Feeding America was known as America's Second Harvest until August 31, 2008.

Akshaya Patra Foundation Indian non-profit organization

The Akshaya Patra Foundation is a non-profit organisation in India that operates a school lunch programme. The organisation was established in 2000. It aims to counter classroom hunger and aid in education of children. It feeds 1,800,907 children every day across India.

Food rescue

Food rescue, also called food recovery or food salvage, is the practice of gleaning edible food that would otherwise go to waste from places such as restaurants, grocery stores, produce markets, or dining facilities and distributing it to local emergency food programs.

FareShare Charity aimed at relieving food poverty and reducing food waste in the United Kingdom

FareShare is a charity network aimed at relieving food poverty and reducing food waste in the UK, which has been running since 1994. It does this by obtaining good quality surplus food from the food industry that would otherwise have gone to waste, and sending it to almost 11,000 charity and community groups across the United Kingdom via the network partners.

FareShare is an Australian not-for-profit food rescue organisation which operates Australia's largest charity kitchens. It strives for a society where food is not wasted and no one goes hungry.

Greater Chicago Food Depository

The Greater Chicago Food Depository (GCFD) is a nonprofit organization that fights hunger throughout Cook County, Illinois. The GCFD distributes donated and purchased food through a network of 700 food pantries, soup kitchens, shelters and community programs, serving more than 800,000 adults and children every year. In fiscal year 2016, the GCFD distributed more than 70 million pounds of nonperishable food, produce, dairy products, and meat - the equivalent of more than 160,000 meals every day. Of the $96,883,955 spent in 2016, over 90% went to direct food distribution programs.

Leket Israel

Leket Israel, The National Food Bank, a registered nonprofit Israel-based charity, is the leading food rescue organization in Israel, serving 175,000+ needy people weekly. Leket Israel rescues surplus agricultural produce and collects excess cooked meals for redistribution to the needy throughout Israel via its network of 200+ nonprofit organization (NPO) partners.

Hunger in the United States Food insecurity

Hunger in the United States of America affects millions of Americans, including some who are middle class, or who are in households where all adults are in work. The United States produces far more food than it needs for domestic consumption—hunger within the U.S. is caused by some Americans having insufficient money to buy food for themselves or their families. Additional causes of hunger and food insecurity include neighborhood deprivation and agricultural policy. Hunger is addressed by a mix of public and private food aid provision. Public interventions include changes to agricultural policy, the construction of supermarkets in underserved neighborhoods, investment in transportation infrastructure, and the development of community gardens. Private aid is provided by food pantries, soup kitchens, food banks, and food rescue organizations.

Chronic hunger has affected a sizable proportion of the UK's population throughout its history. Following improved economic conditions that followed World War II, hunger became a less pressing issue. Yet since the lasting global inflation in the price of food that began in late 2006 and especially since the financial crisis of 2008, long term hunger began to return as a prominent social problem. Albeit only affecting a small minority of the UK's population. By December 2013, according to a group of doctors and academics writing in the British Medical Journal, hunger in the UK had reached the level of a "public health emergency".

Food Angel is a Hong Kong-based food rescue organization. Food Angel was launched in 2011 by the Bo Charity Foundation. The organization is supported by local and international food donors, sponsors, and charity partners.

Feeding Hong Kong

Feeding Hong Kong is the first Hong Kong food bank dedicated to rescuing surplus food from retailers, distributors and manufacturers and redistributing it to people in need. They aim to fight hunger and reduce food waste in Hong Kong. It is an accredited member of The Global Food Banking Network.

Felix Project is a United Kingdom charitable organization that saves surplus food from suppliers and redistributes it to charities. It has the dual aim to help reduce food surplus. The Waste & Resources Action Programme estimate that 10 million tonnes of food was thrown away in the UK in 2016 and help relieve food poverty (Sustain estimate 18% or one in five London pupils are at risk of hunger every day.

Olio (app)

Olio is a mobile app for food-sharing, aiming to reduce food waste. It does this by connecting those with surplus food to those who need or wish to consume such food. The food must be edible; it can be raw or cooked, sealed or open. As part of the initiatives taken on the International Day of Awareness of Food Loss and Waste to reduce food loss and waste, the app is suggested alongside Too Good To Go and Nosh (app) among many others.

Sustainable Development Goal 2 Global goal to end hunger by 2030

Sustainable Development Goal 2 aims to achieve "zero hunger". It is one of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals established by the United Nations in 2015. The official wording is: "End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture". SDG 2 highlights the complex inter-linkages between food security, nutrition, rural transformation and sustainable agriculture. According to the United Nations, there are around 690 million people who are hungry, which accounts for 10 percent of the world population. One in every nine people goes to bed hungry each night, including 20 million people currently at risk of famine in South Sudan, Somalia, Yemen and Nigeria.

Neighbourly is a community investment and giving platform based in Bristol, UK. The platform hosts pages for upwards of 15,000 small charities and community organisations across the UK and Ireland, connecting them with businesses offering surplus food and products, volunteer time and financial donations.

References

  1. ↑ "City Harvest Has a Simple Mission". City Harvest Has a Simple Mission. Retrieved 5 February 2021.
  2. ↑ "City Harvest London - Giving Food Another Life". City Harvest London - Giving Food Another Life. Retrieved 10 May 2020.
  3. 1 2 "I'm Laura Winningham from City Harvest and this is Mycharity". We Give Digital Services. 22 June 2020. Retrieved 5 February 2021.
  4. ↑ "Every Day is World Hunger Day for City Harvest". Every Day is World Hunger Day for City Harvest. Retrieved 5 February 2021.
  5. ↑ "Market's relationship with City Harvest helps to feed vulnerable Londoners". Spitalfields.
  6. ↑ Tatum, Megan (22 January 2018). "City Harvest: another life for London's waste food". The Grocer.
  7. ↑ "Charity to feed over 60,000 Londoners in poverty after £80k cash boost". Charity Today. 19 October 2018.
  8. ↑ Ruddock, Jill Shaw (6 March 2019). "It's great to see our churches unite to help the elderly". London Evening Standard. Retrieved 23 April 2019.
  9. ↑ "Written evidence - City Harvest London". data.parliament.uk. Retrieved 23 April 2019.
  10. ↑ "Xcess: The Independent Food Redistribution Network". Xcess: The Independent Food Redistribution Network. Retrieved 5 February 2021.
  11. ↑ Calnan, Marianne (10 April 2018). "City Harvest London delivers two millionth recycled meal". The Grocer.
  12. ↑ "Innovative Approach to Food Management at IFE 2019 Reducing Waste is Key Say Food & Drink Industry Experts". Premiser Construction News. 23 March 2019. Retrieved 23 April 2019.
  13. ↑ "20 Million Meals! & Happy 7th Birthday City Harvest". 20 Million Meals! & Happy 7th Birthday City Harvest. Retrieved 6 July 2021.
  14. ↑ "Laura Winningham, receives an OBE". Laura Winningham, receives an OBE. Retrieved 5 February 2021.
  15. ↑ "Incredible Gift from The Macallan & Interview with Artist Javi Aznarez". Incredible Gift from The Macallan & Interview with Artist Javi Aznarez. Retrieved 5 February 2021.
  16. ↑ "Incredible Gift from The Macallan & Interview with Artist Javi Aznarez". Incredible Gift from The Macallan & Interview with Artist Javi Aznarez.
  17. ↑ "Watch Distil Your World | Prime Video". www.amazon.com.
  18. ↑ "The Macallan Distil Your World: The London Edition". Lux Exposé. 15 December 2020. Retrieved 5 February 2021.
  19. ↑ "Watch Distil Your World | Prime Video". www.amazon.com. Retrieved 5 February 2021.
  20. ↑ "BBC Earth - Regeneration: Food - Waste". www.cityharvest.org.uk.
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