14 November 2023
Inspired by The King’s work with tackling food waste and educating younger generations about food supply and production, this new project to mark His Majesty’s 75th birthday seeks to bridge the gap between food waste and food need across the UK.
Coordinated by The King Charles III Charitable Fund, the Coronation Food Project seeks to bridge the gap between food waste and food need across all four nations of the United Kingdom, helping people and helping the planet.
There are three pillars to The Coronation Food Project:
- Saving more surplus food.
- Supercharging food distribution networks to ensure surplus produce can reach those who need it most, through the creation of several Coronation Food Hubs.
- Delivering a flexible funding programme to support the wider sector and a consortium of pioneering food-rescue initiatives.
The Coronation Food Project builds on previous work in this area. In December 2022, a £1million fund was launched, which included a personal donation by His Majesty The King. Through this fund, over 800 commercial fridges and freezers have been distributed to key locations across the United Kingdom – which has transformed the sector’s capacity to save, store and redistribute surplus food. There is an urgent need to do more, with up to 14 million people facing food insecurity in the United Kingdom.
Background
The Food Project follows in the footsteps of previous Royal initiatives, including The Felix Project, kick-started by a donation from The King Charles III Charitable Fund, which supplied fridges and freezers to hundreds of charities across the UK, enabling them to rescue and store more fresh and frozen food.
In 2021 The Prince’s Foundation launched the pilot scheme ‘Food for the Future’ to help educate young people about food supply and production. This education programme formed part of the Foundation’s wider food waste initiative known as ‘Making Food Go Further’.
