Our thinking

Food waste warriors

19 June, 2020

Londoners miss 9.2 million meals because of food poverty, yet 13.4 million meals are wasted monthly by businesses. 

This absurd state of affairs was the driving force (pun intended) behind City Harvest, whose green vans are regularly spotted across London redistributing surplus food to the hungry. We’re big supporters of City Harvest, and last week, we were excited to (virtually) attend their Iris Goldsmith awards ceremony, after having helped to develop the awards last year on a pro-bono basis.

Launched this year in memory of 15-year-old Iris Goldsmith, a passionate City Harvest volunteer, the awards were designed to celebrate young people in London helping to fight food waste.

Winners included Oliver Barnard, 13, who set up a chutney-making project using surplus seasonal vegetables from his school’s allotment, and Mikal Gebreamlak, 15, who was inspired by her grandparents in East Africa to help redistribute free school meals to the chronically hungry.

With more than half of British people saying they value food more since the pandemic hit, the Iris Goldsmith awards provided a timely and hopeful reminder that, whatever our age, we can all help stop good food going to waste.

By Sarah Howden