At FareShare, we have a vision of a UK where no good food goes to waste.
In our work to strengthen communities through food we are guided by our Theory of Change
1. The problem
Every year, millions of tonnes of good to eat food is wasted across the UK’s food industry, releasing greenhouse gas emissions, despite millions of people facing food insecurity.
2. What we do
FareShare turns this environmental problem of food waste into social good.
By working with the food industry and with the support of our national network of partners, funders and volunteers, we ensure the food goes to the people who need it most.
We work across the UK with charities and community organisations that help tackle the root causes of poverty and provide wrap around services, from domestic violence centres and homelessness shelters to hospices, community centres, pantries and after-school clubs.
3. The difference we make
We strengthen communities by distributing good to eat (surplus) food to charities and community organisations.
We enable those organisations to:
- Increase access to nutritious and affordable food.
- Reach more people and expand their services.
- Build their capacity by saving time and money they can reinvest in their services.
As a result, individuals accessing these services experience:
- A variety of new and healthy foods leading to improved diets.
- Reduced financial strain.
- Reduced social isolation.
- Improved health and wellbeing.
- FareShare volunteers experience:
- Increased confidence, skills, physical health and mental wellbeing.
- Reduced isolation.
We help the environment by:
- Reducing UK food waste.
- Preventing the waste of CO2 emissions and water embedded in the food.
Analysis of FareShare’s socio-economic impact found that our work creates a social value of £205 per individual reached, for a total of £108m in savings to individuals and £118m in savings to the state. This is thanks to the long-term costs we avoid by enabling charities to reduce the food affordability burden, improve diets, and reach more people, among other outcomes.85
4. Our vision
Maximise the social value of surplus food to better support individuals to improve their physical wellbeing, mental wellbeing, social inclusion and food security.
Reduce the negative environmental impact of surplus food.
We aim to achieve these goals by prioritising organisations that:
- Provide additional support and activities alongside their food services.
- Serve communities in areas of higher deprivation.
- Reach beneficiaries who are most vulnerable as defined by local need.
- Our impact
In 2023-24 we:4
- Redistributed 57,000 tonnes of food – the equivalent of four meals every second – helping to strengthen communities and improve people’s lives across the UK.
- Supported over 8,000 charities and community groups, with 90% providing wrap around care as well as food.
- Reached nearly 1 million people experiencing a range of challenges – helping improve diets, reduce financial strain and social isolation, and boost health and wellbeing.
- Prevented the waste of over 106,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions (4.5 times more than the emissions caused by our operations), and 141 billion litres of water.
- Delivered an estimated £225 million of social value – helping the people accessing food services and taxpayers avoid £5.72 in long-term health and social service costs for every £1 we invest.
References
Ritchie, H. (2020) Our World in Data. Available at: https://ourworldindata.org/food-waste-emissions.
Nicholas, C., T. Patakos, and A. Rughoo (2023) Waste Britain: An evaluation of the economic & social impact of FareShare’s contribution to fighting hunger and tackling food waste. Available at: https://fareshare.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/UH-FareShare-Waste-Britain-Short-Report-2-page-view.pdf