Words by Smiley Team
Putting the super in supermarket, Asda has donated nearly half a million meals to support those in need across the North of England, in partnership with food redistribution charity The Bread and Butter Thing (TBBT).
The company’s donations of surplus food have contributed to 534,848 meals, which the charity distributed to thousands of families across the region, some of whom had previously been skip diving for food.
Leading the project from Asda’s side, their zero waste manager, Karen Todd, said: “At Asda, we are really proud that through our partnership with TBBT we are able to help support so many families who are facing difficult times by providing surplus food, which not only provides much-needed meals for those in need but also helps us tackle food waste, something which our customers and colleagues are really passionate about.
“We continue to work hard to reduce our food waste and it’s through partnerships like these that we can ensure surplus food can be delivered to the communities where it is needed the most.”
Their support came at a vital moment. Following the onset of the pandemic in April 2020, TBBT saw a 460 per cent increase in need since the year before, and, from December 2020 onwards, membership rocketed by 50 per cent from 8,000 to 12,000 members who pay a small fraction of the value of each food bag. Each bag is usually worth between £35 and £50.
The CEO of TBBT, Mark Game, said: "We're enormously grateful for the support that ASDA have given us this year with a whole variety of stock and supplies helping us to keep our growing number of members fed. We've now got over 12000 members, 80% of whom used to skip meals to feed their families. By using TBBT's affordable foodservice we know that we're enabling people to eat better quality and healthier food and we couldn't do that without the help of our brilliant partner suppliers like ASDA."
They say one person’s trash is another’s treasure. This is definitely the case for TBBT, which tackles hunger by collecting surplus food from supermarkets and manufacturers.
Since the start of the pandemic, TBBT has tackled hunger by opening 11 new hubs. They now have 35 hubs in total, which are spread across Darlington and County Durham. But it won’t stop there. They plan to expand further with 20 new hubs opening in early 2021, including its first in Hartlepool and further hubs in Oldham, Tameside, Durham and Darlington, taking it to over 50 hubs by the summer.
In addition to their food distribution work, the charity tackles period poverty by providing sanitary products with the help of Morrisons.
To support their efforts, make a donation via PayPal.
For information about how to volunteer, fill in the contact form on their website.
