Feeding the 5000

On the 18th of November 2011 in London’s Trafalgar Square, more than 5000 hungry bellies were filled in less than two hours under a beautiful autumn sun. People feasted on a delicious hot curry made entirely out of fresh misshapen vegetables that would have otherwise gone to waste. Mayor of London Boris Johnson served up the first portions to Londoners who discovered that wonky vegetables are still delicious! Why should they ever be thrown away?

People helped FareShare bag up a vegetable mountain of tonnes of wonky carrots and potatoes that were sent off to community kitchens serving people in need across London.

Over a tonne of fresh surplus apples and pears were pressed into thousands of portions of delicious apple juice to help wash down the curry. Four happy pigs were brought to the square by Friends of the Earth and merrily munched on the apple pulp showing the huge potential in the UK for food that can’t be used for people to be fed to animals.

The menu in the field kitchen included treats like offal and ribollita, cooked up by wonderful chefs Thomas Hunt and Cristiano Mereguin who showed the crowds how to make the most of unloved ingredients and leftovers. Food redistribution charity FoodCycle put up a surplus veg cooking demo with Valentine Warner and Love Food Hate Waste were there to give useful tips for reducing food waste at home.

Leading British chefs Arthur Potts Dawson and Oliver Rowe took to the stage for live cooking demos and speakers included the Bishop of London, Rosie Boycott and event organiser Tristram Stuart.

The event was an amazing success in raising awareness of the positive solutions to the food waste scandal and got a huge amount of media coverage. Important links were made between producers that have surplus food and charities that desperately need it. And thousands of people signed our pledge to reduce the food they waste and gave a loud message to businesses asking them to do the same!

http://www.feeding5k.org

Comida basura a lo bestia en Londres.
Vía Luis Tamayo.
D.