King Charles is to make tackling food waste his first major personal project as monarch - an initiative aiming to bridge the gap between food waste and food need.
An estimated 2 billion tonnes of food are wasted every year around the globe - around a third of all food produced - with more than half of it thrown away at home.
The King has insisted that “informed choices” can help cut the “colossal” amount of waste. He also believes that tackling the problem could reduce global greenhouse gas emissions by up to 10 percent because farmers would be under less pressure. Approximately 12 million tons of food is thrown away in the UK each year - the highest amount in Europe - and instead use it to help feed the estimated 14 million people living in food poverty. (The United States discards more food than any other country in the world: nearly 60 million tons per year. That's the equivalent of 130 billion meals, according to RTS.)
In December 2022, supported by a personal donation from His Majesty, a fund was launched. whereby over 800 commercial fridges and freezers were distributed to key locations across all four nations of the UK. They have already transformed the sector’s capacity to rescue, store and redistribute vital food supplies. Together they are helping food charities rescue tonnes of additional fresh and frozen surplus food every week - food that was at risk of being wasted.
The Coronation Food Project will be launched to coincide with the monarch’s 75th birthday in November, with the aim of turbo-charging the original initiative launched in December 2022.
The long-term goal is to circulate 200 million meals a year, but this will require a significant scaling up of current infrastructure, as well as better access to surplus food from farmers, manufacturers and suppliers.
George Wright, chief executive of FareShare, which works with more than 8,500 organisations to redistribute tons of surplus food, said: “We are so excited about the potential for the Coronation Food Project to supercharge our work, leading to less waste and less hunger. It will also aid our ambition to scale our volunteering network and create meaningful pathways to employment, giving both local communities and the economy a boost.”