Environment and Rural Affairs Minister, Mary Creagh paid a visit to The Bread and Butter Thing, a charity tackling poverty in the UK, as part of the Government’s Tackling Food Surplus at the Farm Gate Grant Scheme.
As part of the Government’s Plan for Change in tackling food poverty, the Department for Environment and Rural Affairs Minister, Mary Creagh visited The Bread and Butter Thing at Trafford Park last week, heaping praise on the organisation’s ‘fantastic’ efforts to cut food waste and support the community’s most vulnerable.
What is The Bread and Butter Thing and how are they helping to tackle poverty in the UK?
The Bread and Butter Thing is a volunteer-led organisation that operate mobile food clubsgiving access to nutritious and affordable food in communities that are starved of money, food and resources.
DEFRA Minister Mary Creagh previously announced that the organisation is to receive a share of the £13.6 million of funding the government is awarding to projects like this, that are tackling food waste and food poverty in the UK.
Every year, an estimated 330,000 tonnes of edible food is either wasted or repurposed as animal feed before leaving farm gates. This food should be going onto the nation’s plates, but charities often lack the resources to salvage it and provide it to the most vulnerable.
The new Tackling Food Surplus at the Farm Gate scheme will strengthen links between farms and charities to help solve the problem of food surplus on farms, with grants starting from £20,000 to help organisations fight poverty in communities across the UK.
How did the visit highlight the government’s plan to tackle poverty in the UK?
On Friday, August 29, Minister Creagh was joined by Cllr George Devlin, Executive Member for Housing and Advice on Trafford Council on a visit to The Bread and Butter Thing.
Mary said: “Good food belongs on plates, not in bins. The staff and volunteers at The Bread and Butter Thing in Trafford Park are a fantastic example of how food clubs can cut food waste and get surplus food to the people who need it most. Labour’s Plan for Change is tackling food poverty while cutting down on waste, with £13.6 million of funding for projects like this, helping people and the planet.”
When told of the funding last month, Mark Game, Founder of The Bread and Butter Thing said: “The investment will be used to expand logistics infrastructure including vehicles, refrigeration, and packing facilities and to strengthen on-the-ground relationships with growers, particularly in key agricultural areas.
“The funding will significantly enhance our ability to collect and redistribute surplus food directly from farms, preventing edible produce form going to waste and instead redirecting it to hard-working families in our network.
“It will also increase our operational capacity at farm level, enabling us to intercept additional surplus produce. By investing in infrastructure, we can now work more closely with farmers to unlock hard-to-reach produce that would otherwise go to waste, ensuring it reaches people who need it most.”
Cllr Devlin added: “The Bread-and-Butter Thing is an outstanding example of communities being supported to come together to look after each other. It is great to see this initiative being supported by a Labour government, committed to minimise the impact of poverty and the cost of living crisis on individuals, families and communities while also protecting the environment through a reduction in food waste.”
