CAFRE support FareShare in quest to reduce food waste
Date published:
The charity Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) estimates that over 10 million tonnes of food from across the agri-food supply chain ends up as waste every year with a large percentage of this still being edible. Food Technologists at College of Agriculture Food and Rural Enterprise (CAFRE) are working alongside FareShare, who are operated by Homeless Connect, to help tackle the problem.
Food Technologists at College of Agri-Food and Rural Enterprise (CAFRE) are working alongside FareShare, operated by the charity Homeless Connect in Northern Ireland, to help tackle the problem. FareShare receives good quality, surplus food from food manufacturers and retailers across Northern Ireland and distributes this to local community groups, charities and schools to help reduce food waste and tackle food poverty in our communities. However, on occasion FareShare can receive large quantities of surplus food which can reach its end of life before it can all be distributed. These food items are mostly large quantities of fresh fruit and vegetables.
Food Technologist, Zita McNaugher commented: ‘I was surprised by the volume of surplus food received by FareShare and immediately saw the potential to develop products that would extend the shelf life of the fresh produce by using simple food processing techniques.”
Using the Food Innovation Centre kitchens at CAFRE, Loughry Campus, Cookstown, Zita is using fresh surplus vegetable such as tomatoes, carrots and onions to develop sauce recipes. The final prototypes will be highly nutritious and easy for families and groups to incorporate into their mealtimes. The CAFRE designed products will enable FareShare to source a food manufacturer to produce and pack the product for distribution to the charities, schools and community groups they currently support.
For more information on how CAFRE can help your company address food waste, visit the CAFRE website.
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