The new year is often seen as good time to try to be healthier, to eat more fruit and vegetables, The Felix Project has found two thirds of working parents are worried that the food they can afford is not very healthy.
London’s largest food redistribution charity, asked 2,001 working families in London, “How worried are you that the food you can afford to buy for your family is not very healthy?” In total, 66% were concerned, of which 23% were very concerned.
The results are released as the charity also publishes its annual Impact Report. In 2024, The Felix Project prevented almost 16,000 tonnes of surplus food from going to waste. It provided the equivalent of 38M meals, of which 50% was made up of fruit and vegetables, to over 1,200 organisations, such as food banks, homeless shelters and primary schools across London. All of these organisations are working hard to feed people affected by food insecurity.
Charlotte Hill OBE is the CEO of The Felix Project and said: “2024 has been a record-breaking year. The Felix Project has been busier than ever, rescuing more food and feeding more people and I am so proud of the fact that half the food we gave out was fresh fruit and vegetables. The cost of living crisis is not going away. Every week more people are struggling to afford to feed their families and having to turn to food support services for help. It is vital The Felix Project works efficiently to rescue as much high-quality food as possible and ensure the organisations and schools we support can give out the balanced and nutritious food that people need to thrive.”
The survey also revealed 71% of parents believed it was more expensive to provide their children with a healthy and balanced diet full of fruit, vegetables, meat, dairy and pulses, than a less healthy one consisting of processed, convenience foods and takeaways.
The links between poor diet and increased government spending are well documented. A recent report from the Food, Farming and Countryside Commission estimates poor diets could be costing the UK economy £91.9 billion in direct costs and a further £176.4 billion in indirect costs.[1]
To find out more about The Felix Project and how it works with others to alleviate poverty, Minister of State for the Department for Work and Pensions visited The Felix Project. Alison McGovern MP went to Felix’s Multibank, which is one of the charity’s five depots. It is the London location of the Multibank network, started by Amazon and former Prime Minister Gordon Brown. Opened in 2024, it is the first year The Felix Project has been able to rescue large amounts of surplus non-food items such as hygiene and cleaning products, household goods, clothes, shoes and children's toys, and get them to people, alongside the food. In the first year almost 1.5 million items have been supplied to individuals and families across London, reaching up to 95,000 people per week.
During the visit, the Minister, who is also a member of the Child Poverty Taskforce, toured the depot, heard about Felix’s impact in 2024 and took part in a roundtable discussion looking at how a more collaborative approach could help alleviate child poverty. The roundtable also included representatives from Trussell, Little Village, Pecan, St Raphaels Family Wellbeing Centre and Amazon.
Minister for Employment Alison McGovern said: “Too many families are struggling to get by, unable to afford the basics their children need to grow up happy and successful.
“It’s good to see the work being done by The Felix Project to help tackle this problem, but we need to make sure no child has to beg for basics.
“That’s why our Child Poverty Taskforce is developing an ambitious strategy to give children the best start in life and help families to thrive.”
[1] https://ffcc.co.uk/publications/the-false-economy-of-big-food#:~:text=New%20analysis%20commissioned%20by%20the,total%20annual%20UK%20healthcare%20spend.
