Jesus apparently did it with five loaves and two fishes… but on Saturday 5,000 Bristolians will be given a free feed with some of the millions of tonnes of food thrown away every year.
Fareshare South West’s ‘Feeding the 5,000’ event is coming to the city for the first time, and celebrity chefs will be on hand to show how waste food can be used to make true delicacies.
The free event at College Green takes place from 1-5pm and features demonstrations from celebrity chefs including Tom Herbert from the Fabulous Baker Brothers, Tom Hunt and chefs from the Thali Café.
Tristram Stuart, the award-winning author of Waste and activist who set up the original Feeding the 5,000 event and campaign in London, will be speaking and there will be live music and activities for children – including learning how to make butter.
The event is supported by a host of local businesses and charities including the Soil Association, Bristol City Council, Food Cycle, Thali Café, Love Food, Kambe Events and Coexist.
Jacqui Reeves, Project Director at Fareshare South West, said: “Bristol is the first city to host this event outside of London - it’s got ‘Bristol mentality’ written all over it. A free fun day, a free lunch, plus we get to show the food industry how the four million tonnes of food they throw away can easily go to people who really need it.”
Council leader Barbara Janke said the event was one of the reason the city has been shortlisted to be European Green Capital.
Bristol has been shortlisted for the prestigious award for the second time – an accolade the city council leader hopes will make the government “sit up and take notice” of the city’s potential.
Just three cities out of 19 who put themselves forward are in the running, with Bristol joined by Frankfurt and Copenhagen in the running for the 2014 award.
“This event is a great way to highlight how much food we waste and I hope people will come along to enjoy the feast and give their support to the campaign,” she said.
“Fareshare South West does a fantastic job of working with the food industry to save surplus food from landfill and re-distribute it to some of the city’s most vulnerable people.
“This is a really good example of the type of green project that we do so well in Bristol and one of the reasons we’ve been shortlisted as a finalist in the European Green Capital Award 2014.”
Earlier this year, the Bristol East MP called on supermarkets to help the poor by giving more of the millions of tonnes of edible food waste thrown away every year to the hungry and homeless.
Kerry McCarthy made the call after a visit to FareShare South West, which delivers food to a network of 67 projects in Bristol and the South West.
For more information, visit www.faresharesouthwest.org.uk
