BBC Young Reporter looks into scale of food waste

BBC Young Reporter Isabella visits FareShare in Barnsley

The BBC Yorkshire Young Reporter is Isabella, a sixth form student from Sheffield. She has been researching the issue of food poverty and recently visited a charity in Barnsley, which is trying to cut the amount of decent food being thrown away in our region.

The scale of food waste is absolutely staggering.

The United Nations estimate that 10 million tonnes of food is wasted in the UK each year, while many others struggle with food insecurity.

Food waste is a massive issue that affects everybody and, as a Venezuelan, I've seen what food poverty can do to communities.

Learning about the organisations that are working to help tackle this issue, I was filled with hope and wanted to find out more.

Isabella meets Jonathan Williams, deputy chief executive of FareShare, who says "human error" is often to blame for food waste

I visited FareShare, a charity in Barnsley that receives 2,000 tonnes of surplus food donations from manufacturers and supermarkets each year.

They redistribute food that would otherwise go to landfill. There are many reasons why perfectly good food like this may end up in the bin.

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Fareshare's deputy chief executive, Jonathan Williams, says "human error" is sometimes to blame, though mistakes in packaging and labelling are also a factor.

"In a lot of cases it can be they (manufacturers) have estimated what the customer demand will be and they've got it wrong.

"Even though the food industry is a very competitive industry, there is a great deal of waste within it," he adds.

Despite its hard work, Fareshare says its efforts to limit food waste are "only the tip of the iceberg".

Volunteers at the FoodCycle project in Sheffield prepare three-course meals

The charity sends the food donations to projects like FoodCycle. It has nine community meal projects in Yorkshire and provides a free, three-course lunch at the Broomhall Centre in Sheffield every Wednesday.

FoodCycle depends on its volunteers, who turn the donations of food into a delicious lunch. I was able to enjoy curried vegetable soup, mushroom stroganoff and apple crumble.

Sophie Aoun is FoodCycle's regional manager for Yorkshire and helps to co-ordinate the weekly meals.

She says: "It is bonkers frankly that in the sixth richest country in the world you have so much surplus food that is a biproduct of a badly designed food system. Yet there's also still this food poverty."

FoodCycle's Saffron Knight says volunteering with the project was "the highlight" of her week

Sophie works alongside Saffron Knight, who has been volunteering at FoodCycle for three months and is a part of the team cooking when I visit.

Saffron says the volunteering is the "highlight" of her week.

She says: "I was a nutrition student and really passionate about food waste and food poverty and trying to bring fruit and veg to people who might not have access to it.

"After I leave, I'm tired but in a good way and I just feel really inspired."

FoodCycle guests say they enjoy the company, as well as the food

Those who visit FoodCycle for a good square meal are positive about it too.

Bryan Johnson, who has been coming for two years, says the project is "a win-win for everybody".

Samantha Earnshaw, meanwhile, gives the meal "11 out of 10" but adds that she visits for "the company and the friends".

Seeing projects like FoodCycle, which bring the community together while helping to tackle food waste, was inspirational. There is clearly a long way to go, but charities here in Yorkshire are working hard to help.

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