A £15m fund announced by the previous government to tackle the farmgate food waste scandal has been left in “limbo” as the new government attempts to tackle the black hole in its finances.
In February, former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced the fund to help food redistribution companies redirect food surplus and stop it going to waste on farms.
The money was expected to prevent tens of thousands of tonnes of food going to waste each year, much of it buried back into the ground.
However, it has emerged the fund is now in doubt as new environment secretary Steve Reed considers if it will form a part of his circular economy strategy, including the setting up of a new industry and government taskforce to tackle environmental aims.
At this week’s Labour conference in Liverpool distribution charities were urging Reed and his ministers to go ahead with the funding, which they claimed could help transform food surplus.
The announcement of the fund in February at the NFU conference followed years of campaigning by The Grocer and charities including FareShare, with more than 1,000 charities across the UK signing an open letter to Sunak to back the campaign by FareShare, which was calling for £25m per year from the government.
It claimed the fund could deliver 42,500 tonnes of surplus food – the equivalent of 100 million meals – to people experiencing food insecurity, but despite the £15m falling short it was still widely welcomed by charities.
Speaking from the Labour conference FareShare CEO George Wright said: “That funding is now in limbo as the new government tries to balance the books.
“To be fair the new government are very supportive of our work, but overall the government are working out what they can afford to do. They are currently in discussions with the Treasury.”
“It’s meant we’re in a holding pattern where we respect the government trying to decide what is the best approach.”
Previously Reed has spoken out in favour of FareShare’s calls for funding to tackle the scourge of waste from farms, which he described in 2023 as a “stain on our country” given the backdrop of widespread child poverty.
“The Conservatives’ refusal to tackle food waste and failure on the cost of living crisis has left too many children unsure when their next meal will come this Christmas,” he said at the time.
The battle for funding to pay for farmgate surplus redistribution has raged since the government failed to renew a £15m pilot scheme, first set up by former environment secretary Michael Gove in 2018, which provided redistribution charities with funds to transport waste in the supply chain to prevent it being buried back into field, sent to landfill or sent to anaerobic digestion.
Wright added: “Steve Reed is embarking on a very progressive agenda on reducing waste and we are still hopeful. The charities are still working together and we think there is a strong case for the funding. It is a relatively small amount when you consider what it could achieve.”
Charlotte Hill, CEO of The Felix Project, said: “This scheme represents an incredible chance to tap into the huge quantities of nutritious food that go to waste on UK farms every year. At a time when the frontline charities we deliver to are seeing more and more demand for their services, the government can’t afford to let this opportunity slip. farmers put their blood, sweat and tears into growing this food – it should be feeding the people who really need it.”
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