FareShare Australia meets FareShare UK

Same mission, same name but no relation. Meet Gareth Batty from UK food rescue giant FareShare who has been spending time in our Brisbane kitchen to understand our model of cooking rescued and donated food into nutritious meals.

“I’m mind blown,” says Gareth, CEO of FareShare Yorkshire, which redistributes surplus food to community groups and operates a small training kitchen. “What struck me here was the scale – the infrastructure to produce 5,000-7,000 meals a day is a game changer.

“A lot of (UK) FareShares are working with public health departments who want to see people eating really good, nutritious meals which actually improve people’s wellbeing. It isn’t about calories and getting food to people in any form. It’s about getting food that’s appropriate for that person.”

Gareth Batty (left), CEO of FareShare Yorkshire, in the kitchen with our Brisbane head chef James Fein
FareShare UK helped 10,542 charities and community groups in 2020-21
1,108,064 people were provided food supplied by FareShare UK in 2020-21
By collecting food that would otherwise go to waste and redistributing it to good causes, FareShare UK saves the UK economy approx. £51 million every year
One in five UK charities say they would have to close if FareShare UK stopped providing food
Find out more about the great work FareShare UK does
Learn more about FareShare UK
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Members of our Brisbane team relax outside with FareShare Yorkshire CEO Gareth Batty. From left: James, Gareth, Liam & Madi.

Gareth says that the UK is experiencing a similar hike in food insecurity. “The pandemic has really shone a light on hidden poverty. We’re seeing a sudden, exponential rise in need – not just from people in entrenched poverty and homelessness but from working families and people who have jobs but are still struggling to make ends meet.”

And what has he learned from FareShare in Brisbane? “The approach really resonates with me. It about putting people first,” says Gareth. “My priority in Yorkshire is to provide people with what they want.  It’s about people and it’s about dignity – allowing people to access the same type of food that everyone else is able to access.”

And he has no doubt how FareShare’s homestyle meals would go down in Yorkshire. “I hope, but I also know, they would go down really well.”

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