Do you have left over fruit and veggies from the allotment that were grown in your polytunnel? Well maybe it’s time to become a Food Philanthropist, this is where you supply your local charity with freshly grown produce. It’s a great idea as it gives back to the community but more importantly it goes to people who need it. The majority of food given will end up in care homes, hospices and homeless shelters. A great example of a charity doing exactly this is a charity called Foodshare.Foodshare is a national non-profit charity that distributes your freshly grown produce to other charity’s these include Marie Curie, Bernados, Salvation Army, Edwalton, East Angels Children’s Hospice, Riverside, Jimmy’s Cambridge. Many schools and also allotment goers contribute to this in fact in three months £1,500 worth of produce was donated to a local children’s hospice. Food share encourages growers to have a separate bed of veggies to donate although are happy with any donation. Over 7000 school children help to give by growing at their schools across the UK.Foodshare has made national news headlines on the BBC, has been featured on BBC Radio 4’s Gardeners’ Question Time, ITV, BBC1 Breakfast as well as on the front cover of national magazines including ‘Grow Your Own’. The project has been endorsed by and promoted to 10,000+ members of the RHS Gardening for Schools Campaign and the 100,000+ members of the National Society of Allotment and Leisure Gardeners.The Queen and the Prime Minster have sent personal congratulations to schools taking part and Prince Charles has donated some of his own runner beans to the school project. Foodshare is a founder member of the Government-supported Taskforce exploring the potential of Food Growing in Every School.https://www.foodshare.org.uk/
