Charity saves surplus food to feed local community
BBCA charity that transforms food in danger of becoming waste into nutritious meals says it is making a real impact in a community, while inspiring young chefs.
It is estimated the UK wastes more than 10 million tonnes of food every year.
Sussex Surplus was created to tackle this problem, and is now serving hot meals to at least 100 people on the Whitehawk estate in Brighton each week.
"The narrative of surplus food is about the idea that people are coming to help us solve a problem, to help the environment and community. It then becomes about what they can do for us, not what we can do for them," said the charity's founder, Ingrid Wakeling.
"We serve thirty people on a Thursday at the community food hub and deliver on the estate to those who can't get to us because they have young children or old people who can't get out," she added.
The charity accepts surplus food from local farms, retailers and catering suppliers as well as individual donations.
Ingrid, who has appeared on television show MasterChef, recently returned from mentoring at a workshop in Sicily, where Jamie Oliver's former head of culture Danny McCubbin runs a similar initiative.
"Both projects have had a lot of work to do on reducing the stigma attached to asking for help. People don't want to be seen as needing it," she said.
Mr McCubbin said no-one visited his project, The Good Kitchen in Silicy, for six months because of the stigma of asking for help.
It has now rescued more than 19 tonnes of food, delivered over 8000 cooked meals and supplied over 750 fresh food parcels to families on the Mediterranean island.
"Italians are very proud. It took a while to get this project going. The kitchen was originally seen as a place of shame, but now it's a place for community and joy," he said.
The workshop that Ingrid participated in at The Good Kitchen hopes to bring more young chefs into the industry.
"We want to create a brigade of inspired young chefs who might not necessarily start their own project but who might challenge their head chef and ask 'what are we doing with our food waste for our community?'" said Mr McCubbin.
Ingrid said the food industry attracted neurodiverse people and said she was keen to encourage more people into a career in cooking.
"Most of the people who work or volunteer here fit that description and we provide them with an environment where they can develop skills they can take into any workplace," she said.
Sophie, a young chef from the Whitehawk estate who works at Sussex Surplus, added: "I love that I'm now giving back to my community."
