Will the Welsh Government continue to support community food-sharing organisations by providing financial assistance to Fareshare Cymru?
We are continuing to support community food-sharing organisations and have increased our funding to FareShare to £500,000 this year. Over the last decade, as an organisation they have redistributed the equivalent of almost 11 million meals to those in need and currently provide quality surplus food to around 180 community organisations and charities throughout the country.
With the pandemic driving a 70% increase in membership and doubling of the amount of food being redistributed, we have extended the support to increase their coverage across Wales and meet the increase in demand.
In addition, our Circular Economy Fund has provided support to a number of projects relating to food, includingY Larwydd in Monmouth, which houses a Community Fridge Project taking in surplus food from a network of local supermarkets and redistributing it to residents. We have also supported the Big Bocs Bwyd project across South Wales, which helps children develop an early understanding of healthy food choices while providing affordable priced food to families in the community who may be in need of support.
Community food initiatives are not only supporting people in need across Wales but also delivering against other key goals including our aim to halve food waste by 2025 and the major impact cutting food waste has on climate change emissions. Recognising the important role of community food, our Programme for Government commits to the development of a Community Food Strategy.