Calls for supermarkets to donate surplus food to help Yorkshire Coast

FareShare dishes out surplus items which will then go to local organisations for them to hand out to those in need

Author: Karen LiuPublished 5th Oct 2022

A charity which donates surplus food from supermarkets to Yorkshire Coast foodbanks and community fridges is calling for more.

FareShare dishes out extra items that they receive to other charities, organisations and groups which will then be handed out to those in need.

But the charity is asking supermarkets for more after they have seen a decline in donations due to use by date labels being scrapped.

Ali Gourley, who is from FareShare Yorkshire, said: "There's a drive for efficiency which means they're trying to reduce surplus which in turns means that we get less donations. The rules that have changed around sell by dates and best before dates have resulted in less food coming to FareShare's network.

"The charities that FareShare supplies with food are seeing a massive increase in demand for their services as a direct result of the cost of living crisis, so in turn those charities are asking FareShare for more food and at the same time there are constraints on the supply side.

"It's the perfect storm at the time when the charity sector is seeing a dramatic increase in demand for its services, there are supply side constraints and this is a problem."

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