A joint project with The University of Manchester, FareShare Greater Manchester, Lifeshare, Cracking Good Food, the Rainbow Christian Centre and the Compassion Foodbank will look at how society can reduce waste and get more food to those who cannot afford it.
The project will look to develop partnerships for fresh food recycling and purchasing in order to increase capacity and reduce costs. It will also explore ways to get food parcels to those that need them and look into providing hands-on cooking training for people who want to learn how to make good, affordable food from scratch, pick up budgeting tips and understand more about healthy eating.
There will also be work to train people to become volunteers themselves, helping them to develop their skills by working with the organisations that have helped them.
Dr Kingsley Purdam, a lecturer and expert on food insecurity and foodbanks, will lead the project for the University. His recent research concluded that food insecurity and malnutrition in the UK is a much wider problem than has been recognised and the rapid growth in the number of foodbanks and food donation points in supermarkets suggests a ‘normalisation’ of food aid in the UK.
He said: “This project, working with front line service providers, represents a real opportunity for coordinated action that could make a real difference to the lives of people living in food poverty. The University of Manchester is committed to making a positive difference in the drive to tackle poverty and inequalities”.
Seb Serayet, Development Manager for FareShare in Manchester, said: “We supply hundreds of tonnes of surplus food to over 130 charitable organisations who feed vulnerable people in Greater Manchester. However, giving food does not solve the problem. We need to do more to understand and address the underlying causes of food insecurity and poverty and working with the University and front line partners will help us to achieve this.”
