ABOUT US

Feeding The 5K is an environmental organisation that campaigns to end food waste at every level of the food system. We catalyse action on eliminating food waste globally, working with governments, international institutions, businesses, NGOs, grassroots organisations and the public to change society’s attitude toward wasting food.

Our campaigns have existed since 2009 under three banners: Feeding the 5000, Gleaning Network and The Pig Idea. Feeding The 5K is the charity that governs these three campaigns, as well as our wider work influencing public attitudes and government and business policies on food waste.

WHAT WE DO

We are unique in combining high-profile, innovative and inspiring public campaigning with hard-hitting research and expert advice on food waste reduction, which we communicate to decision-makers across government, business and the third sector. We specialise in shining a light on the hidden causes of waste across the food supply chain. We work to raise the profile of existing initiatives that offer the solutions to food waste; where solutions do not currently exist, we catalyse the creation of new organisations and projects to implement them.

With a track record of changing the policies of some of the world’s biggest food companies and reaching out to millions of people through our projects, our innovative campaigning style has helped to elevate food waste from a non-issue several years ago to one now recognised as an urgent international priority.

We believe that tackling food waste is a massive and immediate opportunity to reduce the environmental impact and improve the social value of our food system. Food waste campaigning also offers a unique and accessible platform from which to communicate the wider issues of food sustainability to the public.

OUR STORY SO FAR 

Feeding The 5k is built on over a decade of food waste campaigning by Tristram Stuart and the Feeding The 5k team. After years of instigating mass media coverage of the issue – principally by taking journalists and broadcast media round the back of supermarkets to uncover the extent of the food waste scandal – Tristram published his book, Waste: Uncovering the Global Food Scandal (Penguin, 2009) and soon after organised the first Feeding the 5000 event in London’s Trafalgar Square in December 2009. With the extensive media outreach and public support for the initiative, the event had immediate impact on government and business policy and promoted the activities and messages of the partner organisations, including FareShare, This is Rubbish, ActionAid and Save the Children. Since that date Tristram and the Feeding The 5k team have played a pivotal role in catalysing the food waste movement in the UK and around the world.

OUR IMPACT

Since 2009, Feeding The 5k has been working hard to combat the global food waste scandal. Some of our successes over the years include:

JANUARY- JUNE 2010:

• Member of Parliament (MP) Roger Williams tables an Early Day Motion on food waste, calling on government to encourage large food retailers and manufacturers to report transparently on food waste.

JULY- DECEMBER 2010:

• Tristram Stuart advises on and features in ‘The Great British Waste Menu’ – a pioneering 90 minute BBC documentary about food waste.

JANUARY- JUNE 2011:

• Tristram Stuart awarded the Sophie Prize, a prestigious international environmental award previously won by, among others, John Pilger, Wangari Maathai and James Hansen.
• The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation publishes ‘Global Food Losses and Food Waste Report’ adopting the date and recommendations published in ‘Waste’ and establishes the SAVE FOOD initiative – a global effort to cut down on food losses and waste.

JULY- DECEMBER 2011:

• The very first gleaning day takes place on a Surrey orchard with a tonne of apples gleaned.
• Tristram Stuart awarded Observer Food Monthly Outstanding Contribution Award for his campaigning on food waste.
• The Food Waste Pyramid, designed by Tristram Stuart in collaboration with the Feeding the 5000 steering group, launched at a House of Lords event hosted by Baroness Jenkin, with senior representatives of the food waste industry. Food businesses from across the supply chain including big retailers, restaurants and manufacturers sign up to the food waste pyramid.
• Feeding the 5000 takes place for the second time in Trafalgar Square in November 2011. We worked with the Mayor’s Waste Strategy Team, the London Food Board and a range of partner organisations including FareShare, FoodCycle and Friends of the Earth.

JANUARY-JUNE 2012:

• The European Parliament adopts a resolution to halve food waste in the European Union by 2025. Designated 2014 as the European Year Against Food Waste
• The first Feeding the 5000 outside London takes place in Bristol. Partnering with FareShare South West, over 5,000 meals are served to the public made from food that would otherwise have been wasted.

JULY-DECEMBER 2012:

• Tristram Stuart gives a TED Talk, The Global Food Waste Scandal. The talk has had over a million viewers to date.
• Feeding the 5000 Paris (Le Banquet des 5000) is held to coincide with the release of Tristram Stuart’s documentary film, Global Waste (Global Gâchis).

JANUARY- DECEMBER 2013 to 2014:

• Feeding the 5000 partners with United Nations Environment Programme on the Think. Eat. Save. Reduce your Foodprint campaign, launched at the UNEP governing council meeting in Nairobi. Feeding The 5k’s research reveals that Kenyan farmers waste up to 40 per cent of what they grow, such as green beans for the export market, because they often do not fit the strict European supermarkets cosmetic standards.
• Bristol, Manchester and Amsterdam hold Feeding the 5000 events.
• Launch of The Pig Idea campaign in June 2013.
• 30 tonnnes of cauliflower and cabbage rescued over two days in collaboration with Company Shop. One of the largest gleanings to date.
• The Pig Idea Feast takes over Trafalgar Square together with Thomasina Miers, Stepney City Farm and London’s top restaurants including Wahaca.
• Feeding the 5000 events in Nantes, Edinburgh, Marseille (Feeding the 4200) and the first ever Disco Soupe in New York City.
• Following years of pressure, major UK food retailers declare they will release in store food waste data, something they had resisted for years.
• Feeding The 5k selected as one of three finalists for the BBC Food & Farming Award in the Best British Food Initiatives category.
• Feeding The 5k launches as a registered charity.
• Feeding the 5000 Brussels and European Parliament conference to get action against food waste on the international agenda, as well as a legislative priority.