Free food scheme hits million mark

A surplus food redistribution programme has seen stores donate 21,813 meals to people in need across Sussex.
The Community Food Connection sees free food handed out via charities and community groupsThe Community Food Connection sees free food handed out via charities and community groups
The Community Food Connection sees free food handed out via charities and community groups

Tesco stores in Burgess Hill, Crawley, Pulborough, Shoreham and Worthing are part of the Community Food Connection, in partnership with FareShare FoodCloud.

The Sussex contribution has helped the programme reach its first milestone of one million meals of surplus food donated by Tesco stores nationwide.

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Rifka Chakkalakal, the programme’s manager at Tesco, said: “We are delighted to see Sussex contribute a fantastic 21,813 meals of surplus food to people in need.

“We believe that no food that could be eaten should go to waste, so we’re excited to continue to grow this initiative.

“That’s why we’re looking for even more charities and community groups to come forward to register for the programme. If you serve food to people in need in your community – we want to hear from you.”

The programme sees stores donating their unsold food to charities and community groups for free. It was launched in Sussex in July and the stores have been working closely with food redistribution charity FareShare, as well as charities in their area.

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The programme is part of Tesco’s ongoing pledge to cut food waste, linking to charities and community groups via an app that allows store teams to let them know there is unsold food available at the end of each day.

The unsold food provided includes fresh produce, such as fruit, vegetables and bakery products, plus chilled products like meat, dairy and ready meals.

To date, 2,000 charities and community groups have signed up to the programme. Any charities or community groups that are interested in joining the programme should visit www.fareshare.org.uk/fareshare-foodcloud

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