The call comes in response to the Institute of Mechanical Engineers report ‘Global Food, Waste Not, Want Not’ that has highlighted the levels of food waste globally.
Lindsay Boswell, chief executive of FareShare, said: “They estimate that 30-50% of global food production, or 1.2-2.0 billion tonnes never makes it to people’s mouths.
“FareShare warmly welcomes the report for helping to raise awareness of these issues and whilst the UK figures used are not particularly new in themselves, the latest being from WRAP in 2008, time has not altered the shocking fact quoted that over £1 billion-worth of the food wasted annually in the UK is food still ‘in date’ and so is perfectly edible.
“If this quantity of food was not wasted, the saving in energy consumed in its production, packaging and transport, would be the equivalent of taking 20% of cars off the road in the UK.
“Whilst responsible food companies and retailers have long sought to minimize this volume, the overwhelming majority of the food industry could do more.
“We estimate that we handle less than 0.1% of the surplus food in the UK and we desperately need more responsible food companies to work with us.
“If just 1% of the surplus food in the UK was given to FareShare, this could provide 70 million meals for people in need.
“We believe profoundly that no good food should go to waste. FareShare is a unique charity that connects food industry surpluses with over 700 grass roots charities to fight hunger and the underlying causes of it.
“In doing so we turn a shameful problem into a positive solution with social, environmental and economic benefits. We already work with some of the leading businesses in the food chain to divert over 3,600 tonnes of surpluses fit for human consumption to feed over 36,500 people in need every day.
“Meanwhile, demand on the ground for our services has grown dramatically by 59% in the last 12 months. We have a mountain to climb. Join our cause and help us fight hunger and tackle food waste.”
Since 2005 Sodexo has worked with FareShare, supporting it with its STOP Hunger campaign and encouraging 80 employees last year to volunteer helping deliver food to community projects.
To find out more about getting involved visit http://www.fareshare.org.uk/work-with-us-2/ or call Eli Ishii on 020 7394 2471.