Church Leaders visit Food Rescue Project
Initiated by the Archbishop of Canterbury and Cardinal Archbishop of Westminster, bishops across the country have been encouraged this week to pray for and visit community projects which address growing poverty in Britain.
As a response to this the Bishop of Crediton, Rt Revd Nick McKinnel, and Chair of the Methodist District, Revd Pete Pillinger, visited the Exeter hub of the Devon and Cornwall Food Association (DCFA) on 7 April.
The bishop praised the project and said: “This encouraging scheme is obviously making such a difference to so many local people’s lives and reducing our environmental impact at the same time.”
They met with volunteers and steering group members, as well as new Administrator, Rory Matthews, and heard how this food rescue project has saved over 3,500 kilos of good food so far this year, worth almost £10,000 to local charities including schools, hostels, soup kitchens and hospices.
Later this week the four Archdeacons in the Diocese will be visiting Food Banks in Tiverton, Bideford and Plymouth. Although hopefully not a permanent part of Britain’s social landscape, these mark community responses to increasing numbers of people scandalously unable to access food in our country today.
DCFA runs another hub in Plymouth, also to prevent good quality food from being destroyed and re-distributing it to local community organisations in and around the city. The wasting of food at different points of the food chain is one of the factors prompting poverty and malnutrition in Devon.
