Food waste project EighthPlate has collected and will redistribute over ten tonnes of edible food waste from Glastonbury this year. The project, which was launched at Glastonbury following a successful trial last year, is an initiative led by FareShare South West, supported by The Nationwide Caterers Association (NCASS) and A Greener Festival; it has been established to donate unsold food to a range of charities across the South West.
EighthPlate intends to salvage 60 tonnes of unsold food during 2015, to provide 143,000 meals for the most vulnerable, distributing the produce amongst food banks and soup kitchens in the South West. At Glastonbury, the team are still in the process of collecting the leftover food which is estimated to exceed 10 tonnes and has so far included 4,000 bread rolls, 300 eggs, 250 sausages, 600 carrots, and 90 lettuces!
Emma Dyer, Project Manager at EighthPlate said: “We are so pleased with the leftover food waste that we have been able to collect from Glastonbury. We estimate that we will be able to produce over 24,000 meals from this festival alone, which will be able to support those most in need. The food we have collected has enabled us to make chicken tagine, pork meatballs and lots of bread and butter pudding!”
It is believed that half of all food produced globally goes to waste and with more than four million people in the UK unable to afford a healthy diet, public opinion is slowly turning against this culture of waste.
NCASS Director Mark Laurie said: “We are working closely with our members to assist them in managing their stock as effectively as possible in order to minimise waste. Where inefficiencies do occur though, we are keen to help those people that need it most. EighthPlate is a great cause to be supporting and we hope that the project can be rolled out across all festivals in the future.”
EighthPlate will be collecting from more festivals during the summer including WOMAD, Wilderness, Boomtown, Shambala, and End of the Road.
