Today marks the launch of the world’s first Veg Amnesty by plant-based frozen food company Strong Roots.
The initiative is being supported by Strong Roots ambassador and former Olympic Boxing Champion, Nicola Adams who recently ran through the streets of her hometown in Leeds to drum up support for those living in Veg Poverty – an issue close to her heart. You can watch the film here.
This is a call to UK households to donate surplus, ‘forgotten’ frozen vegetables lurking at the back of their freezers – something we know 9 million British households have.
The Veg Amnesty is a timely solution to the food poverty crisis in the UK underscored by Henry Dimbleby’s National Food Strategy Report last week. The government has said it could take six months to respond to the problems raised in this report, however within this time millions of households around the country will be suffering from the effects of a poor diet*.
The Veg Amnesty is being run in conjunction with OLIO, the food-sharing app that has grown exponentially over the past year as increasing numbers of people have donated surplus food to people who live close by that desperately need it. Over £12.5 billion worth of food is thrown away every year, half of it in homes. The OLIO app is free to use and to join the Veg Amnesty people simply need to:
- Download the OLIO app
- Dig around for unwanted frozen veg in their freezer– opened or unopened it doesn’t matter
- List it on the app to allow someone on their street or community to pop round and take it
In January Strong Roots also set up the world’s first Frozen Veggie Food Bank in central London in response to the Veg Poverty crisis, guaranteeing all visitors frozen veg with every food parcel.
BACKGROUND AND CONTEXT
The Veg Amnesty is part of a comprehensive and long-term social mission launched by Strong Roots earlier this year to ‘Make Veg Poverty History’. Veg Poverty is a very real and serious issue in the UK affecting 6.5 million low income families.
Veg Poverty is defined as the inability to afford or access the government’s recommended five portions of fruit and veg per day and in January Strong Roots set up a dedicated Frozen Veggie Food Bank to get those who are reliant on food banks, the vital nutrition they need via guaranteed frozen veg.