This academic year, our Manchester team has partnered up with food redistribution charity The Bread & Butter Thing (TBBT), to tackle the interconnected issues of food poverty and food waste. Each week our chef has been tasked with turning three bags of food that each beneficiary buys (£7.50 for shopping worth approx. £30) from their nearest hub into a delicious meal!
The three bags of shopping all contain ‘food waste’ – perfectly edible food that would otherwise have been thrown away by the major supermarkets that redirect their surplus food in support of the project. One bag contains chilled goods, one contains ambient goods and the other has an assortment of fresh fruit and veg. The exact items vary each week and sometimes contain a glut of one tricky to prepare vegetable, or a scattering of random ingredients. Our workshops, kindly funded by the Recycle for Greater Manchester Community Fund 2022 – 2023, address the challenge many beneficiaries face – which is what to do with the discounted food they’ve received!
As well as the meals created on the day, our ready-steady-cook style food waste workshops provide participants with an opportunity to improve their cookery skills, boost their confidence and reduce social isolation. We’re working with a variety of VCSE partners locally to give as many people as possible the chance to take part. Recipes are also being shared via our Cooking & Nutrition Portal, to which our nationwide network of partner VCSE organisations receive free access. Find out more about the other benefits of partnering with our Community Cookery School here.
This project is kindly being funded by the Recycle for Greater Manchester Community Fund 2022 – 2023, accessed through the Greater Manchester Environment Fund. The Recycle for Greater Manchester Community Fund (2022-2023) is a joint Recycle for Greater Manchester (R4GM) and SUEZ initiative to support Greater Manchester Community and Voluntary sector groups to deliver projects that help to reduce household waste in Greater Manchester.
Funded projects contribute towards:
- Preventing, reusing, or recycling household waste.
- Promoting the sustainable use of waste and resources.
- Generating wider social benefits for the community of Greater Manchester.
You can find out more information about The Bread & Butter Thing on their website.
If you’re interested in taking part in our free ‘food waste’ cookery workshops at The Hub, please take a look at our Eventbrite page, to book onto our upcoming workshops.