Partnership to Alleviate Food Poverty Crisis

With an estimated three million children at risk of being hungry during the school holidays in the UK this summer, and as food bank usage is reportedly hitting record highs, Miracle-Gro has partnered with FoodCycle to grow and donate fresh fruit and vegetables to those in need.

The nationwide initiative sees the gardening brand connect with ten of the charity’s projects to support people at risk of food poverty and social isolation. With the long-term aim to alleviate the nation’s food poverty crisis, the brand-charity partnership hopes to kick-start a trend for green-fingered Brits to use their hobby for a wider social purpose by donating their surplus crops.

A local allotmenteer for each of the FoodCycle projects across the UK will be armed with supplies of Miracle-Gro results-driven plant food. The All-Purpose range promises 50% extra tomatoes and 10 times the fruit weight of courgettes compared to unfed: produce which will then be put to good use to create delicious, nutritious meals for those experiencing hunger and loneliness.

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EXCITING POTENTIAL

Mary McGrath, CEO at FoodCycle, commented:

“Since 2009, we have served over 250,000 meals to those in need, and we are excited for the potential of our partnership with Miracle-Gro to grow this figure further. The volume of fresh produce from the local growers will help ensure our meals continue to be delicious and nutritious. We believe firmly that food waste and food poverty should not co-exist; this is the perfect way to put the surplus produce achieved to good use.”

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Lindsay Cooper, Plant Food Category Manager at Evergreen Garden Care UK Ltd, commented:

“Despite 86% of the UK population having access to their own green space, over a quarter (26%) use their outdoor space for eating, entertaining and sunbathing only. We are urging these people to try their hand at growing fruit and vegetables with Miracle-Gro. Combined with those who already grow, the volume of extra yield produced and made available for projects like FoodCycle could be huge.”

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Steve Ott

Steve Ott is editor of Kitchen Garden magazine and started his career as a professional grower, producing everything from cut flowers to vegetables. He has been growing fruit and veg all his life and spends most of his spare time in his garden in the East Midlands. He loves to experiment with crops and varieties he has never grown before and when he isn’t gardening is to be found out in the countryside bird watching and walking his dog Ted.