What happens to the surplus food we collect? Today we meet one of our partner organizations - Anon Street Team - to find out how they use the food they pick up from us and to learn more about what they do.
You'll find Anon Street Team at work in the city centre, serving food to homeless people. Team Leader Sonia Hastings explains, 'We go out every Sunday to serve food at 8pm at the Haymarket in Norwich. Our volunteers cook hot food.' They serve between 60 and 100 people from the Haymarket stall and the team take food to a further 30 or 40 people on the streets.
Sonia tells us how the surplus food they collect from us has been invaluable in their work. 'It allows us to cook with items like vegetables. We also get fruit that we use in our street bags. Cakes and sometimes sweets also go into the street bags.' They are also very conscious about food waste. 'Anything we can't use, we still take as we can put it out on the stall for people to take away with them. Anything we have left over, including hot food, we will take to one of the hostels we have contact with so nothing ever gets wasted.'
Anon Street Team was set up to provide hot food and other essential items to homeless and vulnerable people in Norwich. The team aim to be non-judgemental towards the clients they help and to treat everyone equally. They believe that the right to adequate food is a fundamental right. Sustainability is key: they aim to make use of food waste when it is available.
This emphasis on tackling food waste and food poverty makes the team a perfect fit with our aims at the FoodHub. And it was great to hear praise off Anon for what we do. You're a 'great team', said Sonia. 'You've come a long way since you started and I've seen this grow right from the start. Thank you.'