Tesco customers can now help provide millions of meals to feed children this summer and beyond, thanks to a new UK-wide scheme announced today.
Currently, 2.3 million children in the UK live in households that have experienced food insecurity in the last six months[i], a situation that has worsened during the pandemic.
To help ensure children do not miss out on meals Tesco will make a donation for every piece of fresh fruit and veg bought in its stores from July 19th to August 8th.
Over the three-week campaign, Tesco expects to sell enough fruit and veg to donate up to three million meals to its charity partner FareShare to redistribute to charities and local community groups supporting children.
The new ‘Buy One to Help a Child’ scheme builds on Tesco’s existing food redistribution programme with FareShare, which last year saw Tesco provide more than 29 million meals of surplus food.
Tesco has been working with FareShare since 2016, and, to date, has redistributed more than 120 million meals of food to charities and community groups across the UK. FareShare supports frontline charities and community groups working with children – from summer holiday clubs and breakfast clubs, to community kitchens and groups which supply food parcels to those facing food insecurity.
‘Buy One to Help a Child’ is the latest in a number of community focussed programmes in Tesco’s community programmes, which are helping to build stronger communities across the UK.
Marcus Rashford MBE, said: “We all have a role to play in the community and I’m so grateful to Tesco for stepping up to support vulnerable children and families through a difficult time. Whilst collectively we have made progress, numbers are continuing to rise of children going without meals. The Buy One to Help a Child campaign will make a huge difference to the thousands of families who are struggling at the moment to put food on the table.”
The new scheme has been warmly welcomed by FareShare Chief Executive, Lindsay Boswell CBE, who said it would help the food redistributor supply thousands of groups working with children and families across the UK.
He said: “In the last year, FareShare has doubled the amount of food we’re providing to people struggling to get enough to eat. While the lockdown may be easing, we know that food insecurity remains high.
“That’s why we are so pleased to see Tesco and its customers helping us to support children who need it. It will make a huge difference to so many people that have been affected by the pandemic.”
Jason Tarry, Tesco UK and ROI CEO, said: “We wanted to find a really simple way to do our bit and help our customers do the same. We hope Buy One to Help A Child will encourage healthier choices for our customers at the same time as helping to feed children who need it most, so we can continue to help support the communities in which we live and work.”
Tesco is a member of the Child Poverty Task Force, formed by Marcus Rashford, and continues to support his campaign for free school meals for every child that needs them, at any time.
[i] https://foodfoundation.org.uk/new-food-foundation-data-sept-2020/
