Food poverty is tackled in Llanelli thanks to food distribution charity FareShare Cymru. 

From March 2022, community projects in Llanelli will be able to access good quality surplus food from FareShare Cymru, part of the network supported by England International footballer Marcus Rashford. 

FareShare Cymru turns the environmental problem of food waste into a social solution by rescuing surplus food from manufacturers and redistributing it to charities and community groups across Wales. The food is diverted from waste to benefit services such as homeless hostels, community centres, refugee centres, primary schools etc.  

In Wales, around 400,000 tonnes of food is wasted each year. If only 1% of that is edible, it is enough to contribute to over 9 million meals. This is at a time when almost a quarter of the Welsh population is living in poverty. 

For 10 years, FareShare Cymru has been supporting hundreds of members from Newport to Swansea and working in North Wales alongside FareShare Merseyside. Due to research that highlighted almost 300 community projects potentially needing food support in West Wales, the charity is now expanding; beginning in Llanelli in March, Carmarthen in early summer 2022 and Pembrokeshire in early 2023.  

The first delivery to Llanelli will take place on Thursday 10 March 2022. 550kg of food will be delivered to six community food projects who will then use the food activities such as community cafes, older people’s lunch clubs and primary school meals. 

‘The deliveries we receive from FareShare Cymru support our Community Stores and food delivery services, which provide families across West Wales with weekly access to fresh and healthy food that doesn’t break the bank.’ Foothold Cymru. 

Foothold Cymru is just one example of a food project that FareShare Cymru supports. The charity encourages its members to provide more than just food by offering a service that tackles the causes of food poverty such as isolation, financial difficulties or lack of skills. 

Heather Thomas from FareShare Cymru says; 

It’s really exciting to offer our service in Carmarthenshire and, later, further into west Wales. The last two years have highlighted the importance of community, and the current increases in the cost of living make it clear that, unfortunately, more individuals will need support. We hope that offering our service in Carmarthenshire means fewer people in Wales will face food poverty. 

As well as tackling food poverty, FareShare Cymru saved the equivalent of 2270 tonnes of CO2 in 2020/21. It has been estimated that if food waste was a country, it would be the third-highest emitter of greenhouse gases after the US and China, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations.