MPs are looking for solution to food poverty in the wrong place

Last week, leaders of the grocery sector were quizzed by MPs over whether they are profiteering from rising prices. Having worked for many years for some of the biggest retailers in the country, I can tell you they are looking in the wrong place.

Essential items in supermarkets are some of the least profitable in the food industry, but have seen the highest cost increases due to the global impacts of resource shortages and increased commodity prices. Consequently, food price inflation in supermarket value ranges is, on average, twice the rate of the living wage increase.

For a Conservative government to be considering state intervention in food prices in a fiercely competitive UK grocery market shows that inflation is a massive, long-term structural problem that goes beyond the affordability of food. While it is right that government is looking for answers to support people most impacted by the cost of living crisis, we need new thinking and a comprehensive set of solutions.

Suppose I told you there was a scheme already in place that reduced food waste and carbon emissions. A scheme that results in significant quantities of healthy food being made available for redistribution by charities. Where every £1 invested created almost £6 worth of economic value – something that has been proven in a trial.

You’d think they’d jump at it.

FareShare’s ground-breaking Surplus with Purpose scheme launched in 2019, took a £1.9m government grant and turned it into 4,447 tonnes of predominantly fresh, nutritious food for redistribution, saving thousands of CO2e. We did this by working with farmers and manufacturers to extract surplus food from their crops or factories and process it into food for the community sector.

Despite the scheme’s success, two recommendations from the Efra committee, and the support of 127 MPs, government has not renewed funding since the trial ended. Meanwhile, the cost of living continues to cause pain for households across the UK. We know 88% of the public wants surplus food to go to charities, and over 100,000 people have signed a petition backing our ask.

Government funding to the tune of £25m would allow us to scale up our work with farmers. We’re not asking for new money – diverting this money from anaerobic digestion subsidies, dormant assets, or the sovereign wealth grant could quickly pay for the scheme.

It’s politically sensible. Farmers would much rather see their surplus food go to people in need instead of going to waste. Rural areas are a key battleground in the next election, and government should look for solutions to show it takes UK agriculture seriously.

The lack of action impacts the health of the nation. The most deprived fifth of the UK population would need to spend half of their disposable income on food to meet the cost of the government’s recommended healthy diet. Yet by redistributing food, FareShare creates almost a quarter of a billion pounds in social value to the UK every year, including savings to the NHS.

The reality is that three million tonnes of edible food is going to waste on UK farms every year. When there is so much need, it’s wrong there is so much waste, and it’s wrong this continues to be ignored.

For many people, the cost of living crisis is exactly that: a crisis. Defra should work with FareShare and the wider food industry to get surplus food into the hands of the people who need it most. What we need is leadership, urgency, and common sense from government.