Volunteers hand-pulled, topped and tailed around three tonnes of surplus leeks at a Lincolnshire farm to combat food poverty.
Dozens of members of voluntary organisation Lions Club International joined the effort in support of The Gleaning Network, which encourages people to pick surplus crops to shrink farm-level food waste.
The leeks were picked on Saturday (23 April) in Coningsby, then placed in crates and distributed to frontline charities and groups such as school breakfast clubs, older people’s lunch clubs, homeless shelters, food banks and community cafes via FareShare’s regional centres.
Dr Chris Hibbert, the Lions Club International national hunger officer, formed the Lions Gleaning Hub two years ago.
Since then, more than 38 tonnes of food from eight counties – including Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire and Leicestershire – have been rescued.
Dr Hibbert said: “Last year, we were inundated with pumpkins as they are getting more popular and we had opportunities with around a dozen farms.
“While we managed to help most of them, the waste was still staggering. All those who volunteer for us have been shocked by the quality and quantity of food available on the farms we have managed to engage with and the variety of reasons for this surplus.
“While food bank, community fridges and soup kitchens are well-supported, awareness of food waste generally is still not widely appreciated.
Most Read
“We are hoping to develop more opportunities with farms across the country, as well as encourage more volunteers to get involved.
“Another area we are keen to develop is around education of growing, preparing and cooking food as there is an over-reliance on takeaways and pre-prepared food.
“It is important for people to realise that the food we are picking is fresh, nutritious and delicious. It isn’t waste – it is surplus and our aim is to stop it from becoming waste.”
The effort was supported by commercial law firm Shakespeare Martineau – which has a presence in Lincolnshire – and which wants to deliver 10,000 volunteering hours in 2022. People from the firm contributed towards this by pulling, preparing and saving the surplus leeks in Lincolnshire.
Jennie Wheildon, legal director who specialises in agricultural property law at Shakespeare Martineau, said: “It is estimated that £1.2 billion’s worth of food is wasted each year, which can be attributed to cosmetic standards, order cancellations, forecast changes, unpredictable weather, and harvesting capacity.
“Gleaning reduces food waste on farms and increases the supply of fresh food to those in need. “As agricultural law specialists advising farming businesses, it is particularly great to have an opportunity to volunteer on a farm by helping to harvest the surplus supply.
“We are delighted to have supported the Lions Gleaning Hub with its first pick of the year and are looking forward to helping out with more gleaning over the next 12 months.”
Don’t miss
To find out about Lions Club International’s gleaning project or to get involved, contact chris.hibbert4@ntlworld.com or visit the Lions District 105CE website to view newsletters, videos of gleans and the Lions Feeding the 5000 events – the next of which is planned for November 5 in Lincoln.
Sign up for your free East Midlands newsletter and follow us on LinkedIn
Email newsletters
BusinessLive is your home for business news from across the East Midlands including Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire and Lincolnshire.
Click through here to sign up for our email newsletter and also view the broad range of other bulletins we offer including weekly sector-specific updates.
We will also send out 'Breaking News' emails for any stories which must be seen right away.
For all the latest stories, views and polls, follow our