Healthy Food for All National Conference Availability: Establishing a national network of Food Banking Jack Dunphy Chairperson BIA Food Initiative 20 November 2013

Waste of Food Surplus food to landfill in Ireland: 250,000 tons by commercial businesses 250,000 tons wasted by households 450,000 tons wasted by food production businesses International studies suggest 40% of food wasted from farm to fork

From the viewpoint of the environment, this is a waste of resources used in the production cycle – Land use – Water – Energy – Materials – Labour Waste of Resources

Moral and Ethical Question Can we allow this to continue? – 10% of population experience food poverty daily – One in five children go to bed hungry

Match Surplus to Scarcity Setting up a National, integrated food recovery system is a ‘no brainer’ But is it easy? No

Food banking Food banking well established in Europe 220 operational food banks in 17 countries 400,000 tons of food redistributed to 31,000 charities in 2011 Ireland now has 3 independent foodbanks

Capacity to make food available Nationwide Bia concept: Central distribution warehouse in Dublin (60% of cargo routed through Dublin) 4 or 5 regional distribution warehouses receiving transfers from Dublin hub and also locally sourced supplies Harness existing spare capacity with transport companies to move product out to hubs where it can be accessed by local charities

All Island Alliance BIA Foodbank is FareShare’s delivery partner in Ireland: Giving BIA access to FareShare’s existing relationship with food production companies and retailers in the UK and Northern Ireland Giving BIA access to FareShare’s handling, compliance and auditing procedures and IT and traceability systems necessary to comply with food industry requirements

Outcomes for Charities Voluntary Sector spending more than 20 million euro on food purchases per annum St. Vincent de Paul Society alone spends 10 million euro on food per annum

Community Dividend Foodbanks supporting Community Food Initiatives – Short life products such as fruit and vegetables used to make chutneys, jams and preserves by local food initiatives – Significant savings on food purchase costs for Community and Voluntary organisations

Capital Funding Requirements Euro 300,000 per annum for 5 years to develop a national food recovery system to a standard acceptable to the food industry. A unique opportunity to find that funding in the Fund for European Aid the most deprived

An Interesting Number Euro 175 – the value of food that can potentially be redistributed for every 1 Euro invested in a National Food Redistribution network

Other interesting numbers 70,000 tonnes of good, still edible surplus food wasted annually by retailers in Ireland. Euro 140 million – the value of that wasted food 5,000 tonnes of food Lidl stated they could donate throughout Ireland if there was an infrastructure in place to manage it 30,000 tonnes of surplus food wasted by Tesco UK in the first six months of 2013