Calls to ‘turbocharge’ food redistribution as families struggle

A third of parents admit their children are eating less fruit than a year ago, according to a new survey carried out for redistribution charity FareShare.

The YouGov survey shows that the cost of living crisis continues to put pressure on household budgets. A quarter of parents also said that their children were eating less fresh fruit during the summer holidays, at a time when families face additional costs for childcare and food while schools are closed.

YouGov polled 4,452 UK adults, of which 1,088 were parents of children aged 18 and under between 19 and 23 July.

Of those who responded, 34% agreed with the statements that they were buying less fruit than the same time last year because of the cost of living crisis, despite 90% of respondents recognising that having access to fruit & veg had positive health impacts for their children.

FareShare said it was calling on the new Labour government to “turbocharge” the redistribution of surplus food, especially fresh fruit & vegetables, at a time when almost three million tonnes of fresh produce goes to waste on UK farms every year, despite it still being good to eat.

“Thousands of the charities within our network are working extremely hard every day to support children and families impacted by the cost of living crisis,” said FareShare CEO George Wright.

“It is really worrying that so many children are struggling to access fresh fruit and, therefore, maintain healthy diets.

“In the UK, a huge amount of fresh produce, both fruit & vegetables, is wasted on farms every year when it’s still perfectly good to eat. We need the new government to partner with the redistribution sector to deliver more food to people in need – our manifesto outlines how this can be done.

“We need their support to help get more nutritious food to children and help give them the best possible start in life.”