Group's mission to appreciate every piece of food

Image caption, Devon farmer Lloyd Stone donates food such as courgettes to Food in Community

ByJane Douglas

South West

An organisation that rescues hundreds of tonnes of surplus food from going to waste wants to expand its work.

Food in Community, a Dartington-based community interest company, has been collecting unwanted and extra crops from local growers and farmers for 14 years in a bid to reduce waste and improve access to sustainably produced food.

The food is packed into boxes for free doorstep deliveries to people, with any leftover produce given to food banks, community fridges, lunch clubs and youth groups.

The group, who work mainly in Devon but also send items to Cornwall, said it wanted to work with more farmers, volunteers and business partners in a bid to save more food.

Chantelle Norton, a director at Food in Community, said research done by World Wide Fund for Nature and Tesco in 2022, external estimated 2.9m tonnes of edible food is lost or wasted annually every year on UK farms.

Image caption, Chantelle Norton said appreciating produce helped more than the people who end up eating it

Norton said: "What's important is making the most of the resources we've got.

"We value not just the food itself and the nutrition it brings, but also the farmer's time, the water that goes into producing that crop and the care everyone puts into it.

"It's important to appreciate every last piece of edible food that is grown."

Food in Community box manager Sandra Crawford said boxes are given to people who have been referred to the organisation.

She the reason was often because "they're in particular need or having a particularly difficult time".

Crawford added: "They will be offered a box, usually for a limited period of up to six months, which gets delivered to their doorstep."

Image caption, Food in Community box manager Sandra Crawford said produce is sent to people referred to the organisation

One crop that has been particularly plentiful this year is courgettes.

Farmer Lloyd Stone, who supplies Riverford Organic Farmers, has been donating produce to Food in Community from his fields near Ashburton for two years.

He said: "It's been a good year for courgettes and some are just too large, they are heading towards marrow size.

"The cows will eat these, but if some of them can go for human use too then that's great."

Image caption, Teenagers at Totnes Rural Action Youth Engagement have been learning to cook with produce from Food in Community

Totnes Rural Area Youth Engagement (TRAYE) has been getting free fruit and vegetable boxes from Food in Community for the last two years.

Youth worker Kerry McCain said: "At TRAYE, we provide food for all the young people who come to us - we've got nine youth clubs across south Devon.

"Being able to get a free box of locally sourced fruit and vegetables makes a big difference."

She said the food also helps get young people involved in preparing and cooking meals before sitting down to eat together.

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