Too much and too little? Debates on surplus food redistribution

5 Surplus food redistribution: the
current debate
5.1 Introduction
At the moment the relative number of surplus food
redistribution schemes in the UK is low but exp<strong>and</strong>ing,
This expansion indicates that Britain has an increasing
inability to provide all its
citizens with adequate
mechanisms, financial or
social, to obtain food in
culturally acceptable ways.
Thus research is needed to
enable the development of
such schemes to be either
halted or supported by
appropriate policies. Integral
to such research is an active
debate to assess whether the expansion of surplus
food redistribution will perpetuate food poverty,
rather than promote long-term solutions.
AAccccoorrddiinngg t<strong>too</strong> iittss
pprrooppoonneennttss,, ssuurrpplluuss
ffoooodd rreeddiissttrriibbuuttiioonn iiss aa
""wwiinn--wwiinn"" ssoolluuttiioonn t<strong>too</strong>
tthhee pprroobblleemm ooff ffoooodd
iinnsseeccuurriittyy aanndd hhuunnggeerr::
ssaavviinngg wwaassttee wwhhiillee
ffeeeeddiinngg tthhoossee iinn nneeeedd..
According to its proponents, surplus food
redistribution is a "win-win" solution to the problem
of food insecurity: saving waste while feeding those
in need. 70 "Food recovery programs are easy, safe <strong>and</strong>
cost-effective," says the United States Department of
Agriculture (USDA). 71 As Crisis FareShare points out:
"food retailers <strong>and</strong> wholesalers are throwing away
huge amounts [of food]. Often this food is within its
use-by date or nearing or outside its best-before date.
Many food suppliers are frustrated by this waste but
do not have the means to arrange <strong>and</strong> co-ordinate its
distribution." A response by groups such as Crisis
FareShare, or Second Harvest, is to help companies
eliminate waste by serving as a distribution channel
for surplus foods. The aim of the South <strong>and</strong> West
Lancashire Food Bank is to "try <strong>and</strong> help prevent waste
in the food industry <strong>and</strong> help voluntary organisations
at the same time." And it is Foodchain's philosophy
"that no food should go to waste when people go
hungry." 73 Grocery Aid, meanwhile, is able to use
surplus food to "provide for the needy, products from
the Food <strong>and</strong> Grocery Trade which improve the quality
of their everyday life." 74
19
But is it really a "win-win" scenario? Not according
to critics of surplus food redistribution. In North
America, the vast scale of both food insecurity <strong>and</strong>
redistribution has prompted a critical analysis, 75 most
recently by Professor Janet Poppendieck in her book
Sweet Charity. 76 In Canada, Professor Graham Riches
<strong>and</strong> Dr Valerie Tarasuk have been vocal in the debate.
Not only does distributing surplus food hide the real
causes of hunger, they say, but it doesn't actually solve
the problem. Indeed, if it unwittingly displaces public
welfare, it may even perpetuate poverty.
In the rest of Europe, <strong>too</strong>, surplus food
redistribution schemes are being debated via a series
of reports. 77
These debates <strong>and</strong> others are detailed below under
the following headings: feeding the hungry, saving
waste, sharing <strong>and</strong> voluntarism, <strong>and</strong> education. They
are debates made complex by the fact that the people
involved with surplus food redistribution are often
driven by concerns for social justice; likewise the critics.
5.2 Feeding the hungry?
5.2.1 The immediate benefit: food for
those in need
Surplus food provides for people in emergency <strong>and</strong>
crisis situations <strong>and</strong> those who face chronic problems
that exclude them from mainstream society. The
immediate benefit of surplus food distribution to these
groups is palpable. There can be no doubt that surplus
food has helped keep at bay - if only sporadically -
hunger <strong>and</strong> malnutrition for millions of people
throughout the industrialised world. In the UK around
500 charities benefit. And the food is very welcome.
Phrases like "excellent," "fantastic," "very good
service," "great," "do a very good job," "it's such good,
nutritious food" were used by charities to describe the
different UK schemes. 78 "We believe Provision [now
Grocery Aid] can really make a difference by providing
Published by Sustain: The alliance for better food <strong>and</strong> farming - 2000 19