The John Lewis Partnership is making a £100,000 donation via one of their charity partners, FareShare, to ensure thousands of nutritional meals reach people in need across the UK, including many who may be missing out on free school meals during the holidays.
According to The Food Foundation's 2023 Broken Plate report, deprivation means a fifth of UK adults consume less fruit and veg (37 percent less), oily fish (54 percent less) and dietary fibre (17 percent less). So Waitrose is focused on providing fresh, healthy and nutritious whole foods to those who need them most. They've also shared that 4 million children live in households facing food poverty, which has doubled in the last year, while food insecurity has impacted 9.3 million adults.
Waitrose and John Lewis have been working with FareShare, a charity dedicated to fighting hunger and reducing food waste across the UK, since 2017. So far, over 16 million meals from surplus food have been diverted from Waitrose shops and distribution centres. That's over 7,000 tonnes of food that has saved over 16.4 tonnes of CO2 from being produced.
"Everyone has the right to good, nutritious food, the need for which extends beyond school term time," said Lindsey Crompton, Social Impact and Health Lead at the John Lewis Partnership.
"We have a long-standing partnership with FareShare and their selfless volunteers."
Crompton continued that it had worked together to divert food, donate funds and share skills with those who need it, up and down the country.
"Right now, many people are struggling to feed themselves and their families, so we want to help ease the pressure for those who risk going hungry this summer by working in partnership with FareShare and some of our key suppliers."
From 2022 to 2023, FareShare redistributed nearly 128 million meals, four meals every second. Nearly 70 percent of the support FareShare and its associated charity partners receive from families with children under 18.
This summer, Waitrose will connect Fareshare with its suppliers, Primafruit, Produce World and Dovecote, to get healthy, good food directly from farms to needy families.
"The demand for FareShare food has skyrocketed as a result of the cost of living crisis and will continue to rise throughout the summer holidays when more families rely on these vital local services to feed themselves and their loved ones," said Claire Kerrin, Commercial Manager at FareShare.
Kerrin continued that FareShare was pleased to be working with Waitrose farms and suppliers, which offers the organisation a fantastic opportunity to distribute fresh food to those who need it at a time when millions of people are going hungry across the UK.
Jamie Marskell, Primafruit's Managing Director, said that Primafruit was so proud to be part of this programme, supplying the healthy fruit it sourced with care to those with a real need.
"Working in partnership with Waitrose and FareShare this Summer is a wonderful way to work towards improving lives."
Waitrose was also grateful to its customers who generously donated food and other everyday items to local food banks in its stores. In the last year, 1,156 tonnes of food and other items were given to The Trussell Trust via 190 Waitrose collection points, an increase in donations from last year by around 48 percent.
Spurred on by customers' increased support, Waitrose doubled our annual donation to The Trussell Trust to £540,000 this year, supporting communities through the current cost of living crisis.
