Food waste is a huge issue in the UK. According to the government’s waste advisory body Wrap, £13bn of edible food is thrown away from homes every year and a further £3bn is wasted by the hospitality and food service sector. Meanwhile, the UK has some of the highest levels of hunger and deprivation among the world’s richest nations with nearly one in five UK children under the age of 15 suffers from food insecurity – meaning their family lacks secure access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food.
There are many legal barriers and loopholes to stop food being redistributed. Join a discussion with people who are working to highlight these issues and to redistribute food to where it’s needed most: Kemi Akinola (Be Enriched), Lauren Celeste Hooper (Plan Zheroes) and Mahamed Hashi and Solomon Smith (Brixton Soup Kitchen).
About the panel
Kemi Akinola is founder of Be Enriched, a youth and community charity set up in 2013 focused on supporting the community and bringing people together. A big part of what Be Enriched does are Community Canteens - a space for communities to congregate and communicate over a healthy and nutritious meal using food surplus from supermarkets, green grocers and markets. She is the managing director of Brixton People's Kitchen, a social enterprise and catering business. She currently chairs the Lambeth Food Partnership and facilitates the Wandsworth Food Partnership.