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FareShare works with hundreds of organisations across the food industry to obtain their surplus ingredients, using this food to supply our network of charities across the UK.
Here are a selection of delicious, cost effective recipes using surplus food, some basic ingredients, and requiring minimal fuss.
Use the drop-down menus to find the ingredient that you wish to cook with, select your dietary requirement and difficulty level, or try the search box to look through our recipe titles.
Posted:
Monday - May 15, 2023
2:58 pm
Last year FareShare Midlands redistributed almost 6,000 tonnes of good-to-eat surplus food – that’s the equivalent of approximately 1,000 elephants!
Clearly, not all of this is simply what you might find in the “reduced to clear” area in your local supermarket. Surplus food is, put simply, food that is surplus to requirement – and can be found at any stage of the food production chain, including: farms and growers, production and manufacturers, supermarkets and grocery stores, and hospitality and event providers.
There are many reasons why these organisations might find themselves with a surfeit of in-date, edible foods which could easily end up going to waste. These include forecasting issues, packaging problems or having a short shelf life. Over 3 million tonnes of food is still wasted across the food industry every year, but thankfully more and more food producers want to find ways to divert this food to vulnerable people. Obviously, that is where FareShare Midlands comes in – taking this nutritious food and redistributing it to charities and community organisations helping people in need across the Midlands.
Unfortunately, right now there are even more external challenges putting pressure on the UK’s food supply. The cost-of-living crisis, ongoing supply chain issues due to the war in Ukraine, high energy costs, poor weather reducing harvests in Europe and North Africa, reduced output from British farmers and the impact of Brexit are all putting additional pressure on the food industry, resulting in less surplus food available for redistribution.
The nature of surplus food is always unpredictable and requires a flexible approach. The benefits are that you save money, you prevent nutritious food from going to waste, and you might get to try something that you wouldn’t normally buy. At the same time, the current challenges to supplies mean we have to be ever more innovative in terms of how we use the surplus food and ingredients that we are receiving.
Did you know?
Surplus food can be:
- Meat, fish, eggs and dairy.
- Fruit and vegetables.
- Ambient food or store cupboard staples such as pasta, tins and cereals.
- Baked goods.
It can also be:
- Catering supplies and repackaged catering packs.
- Chilled food, such as ready meals or drinks.
- Frozen food, or chilled food that has been blast frozen.
How can you use it?
Alongside sharing with others as food parcels and affordable shopping, you can use it in:
- Soups such as carrot & ginger.
- Meals including vegetable stew or beef & red kidney bean chilli.
- Desserts, such as apple & raspberry crumble.
If you need inspiration, you can find simple, healthy, delicious recipes made
from surplus ingredients on our website.
from surplus ingredients on our website.
You can also use surplus food and ingredients in other cost-effective and environmentally-friend ways:
- Scraps of vegetables can be sprouted and used to grow new ones including onions, lettuce, ginger, celery, potatoes and garlic.
- Freeze leftover ingredients using ice cube trays including herbs, citrus zest, chopped garlic, grated ginger, excess stock, bone broth or fruit juices.
- Use surplus ingredients such as inedible veg scraps or the carcass of a turkey to make your own stock (then freeze into handy portions, so you have a ready supply).
Please visit our website to find delicious, cost-effective recipes made from surplus foods: https://faresharemidlands.org.uk/recipes/.
For further information and ideas take a look at:
- Become a FareShare Community Food Member! Version2 (1).pdf
- Guide for CFMs - February edition 2023.pdf
FareShare Midlands is the region’s largest food redistribution charity. We take good quality surplus food from the food industry and get it to frontline charities all over the Midlands, reaching more than 67,000 vulnerable people every week.
Help us fight hunger – give food, volunteer or donate today!
