The pandemic has still got the nation in its grip, meaning that millions of Brits are struggling to access nutritious food.
According to figures from FAO UN, Voices of the Hungry, hunger affected 8.4 million people in the UK in 2016 – equivalent to the entire population of London – with 4.7 million people living in severely food insecure homes (where food intake is greatly reduced and children constantly live with hunger pains).
The pandemic has exacerbated these figures, with one in five reporting on cutting down on meals for financial reasons in November 2020, according to the UK’s Foods Standards Agency. Further research from FareShare showed that 46% of the people who rely on food parcels often go a whole day without a proper meal.
The organisation reported that the need for its support spiralled between 2019 and 202, increasing to over 10,000 charities and close on a million Brits accessing FareShare food each week.
Half a million pots of porridge
To take some of the pressure off this rising crisis, for the month of February, FUEL10K will donate a portion of porridge for every pot it sells for FareShare to get to food insecure Brits.
The brand typically sells more than half a million pots of its Protein Boosted Porridge each month through its nationwide listings with supermarkets, online retailers and convenience stores. Sales figures for February 2021 should be no different, meaning that more than 10 tonnes of FUEL10K porridge will be donated to support the many frontline charities and community groups with which FareShare works.
“This collaboration with FareShare means so much to the entire FUEL10K family and we’re delighted to be working so closely with them,” said Jason Kerr, cofounder of FUEL10K.
“We count ourselves extremely fortunate to be able to donate more than 500,000 great tasting breakfasts, especially at a time when foodbanks and school meals have such a huge need for them.”
The brand is calling on consumers can get involved in its campaign to get a portion of porridge to someone in need.
The range – available in five flavours, including the recently launched Super Berry variant – is available across the UK in retailers (ASDA, Morrisons, Tesco, Co-Op and Booths), convenience stores (Nisa, Costcutter, Key Stores and Spar), as well as online on Amazon.
FareShare makes a huge contribution to the UK economy, saving approximately £51 million annually, and getting food products that would often otherwise go to waste into the hands of those who desperately need it. Since its founding in 1994, the organisation has redistributed more than 4,000 tonnes of donated food products to charities, which in turn provided over 57.3 million nutritious meals to vulnerable people.
