A London food rescue charity has found the amount of food that is redistributed to people in need, could be almost doubled.
The Felix Project, London’s largest food redistribution charity, commissioned Argon & Co to look into how much edible food could be available on UK farms. The study estimated between 180,000 and 270,000 tonnes of farm surplus could be feasible for redistribution to people. Currently most of this is either ploughed back into the soil, sent to anaerobic digestion or used as animal food.
In total around two thirds of that was already harvested produce, which had been picked but deemed ‘out of specification’ and so cannot be sold, that’s around 120,000 and 180,000 tonnes of harvested produce that could be rescued and redistributed. The smaller amount is equivalent to over 285 million meals [1]. The larger would mean 428 million meals could be made available to help people experiencing hunger.
In 2023 191,000 tonnes of food, or the equivalent of 456 million meals was redistributed in the UK. According to WRAP just 4%, around 8,000 tonnes, was from farms, yet this research shows hundreds of thousands more tonnes are available.
The research was carried out to help the charity put together a new policy proposal which calls on the UK government to introduce a new Sustainable Farming Incentive focused on food redistribution. The SFI would reward farmers for donating their harvested, yet out of specification fruits and vegetables for human consumption. Argon’s research has found for an investment of between £10M and £23M [2], it could generate around £90M pounds worth of food.
The Sustainable Farming Incentive was introduced by the government in 2021 and fully rolled out the following year. It paid farmers to manage their land in a way that protected the environment. The scheme was unexpectedly closed in March 2025 and is currently under review. This creates a timely opportunity to reimagine its purpose, not only reward environmental stewardship, but also to ensure publicly funded schemes deliver public good.
The Felix Project believes introducing this new scheme would:
Charlotte Hill OBE, CEO of The Felix Project said:
“We know how much effort and resources farmers put into growing food, yet vast quantities of nutritious fruit and vegetables go to waste every year, whilst millions of people across the country face food insecurity and food bank usage is at record highs. We believe introducing an incentive that rewards farmers for giving surplus produce to charities like The Felix Project is a real opportunity to deliver on economic, environmental and health and social priorities.”
The policy is being launched by The Felix Project at Groundswell Festival, the Regenerative Agriculture Festival in Hertfordshire. It is widely supported by the sector including FareShare. The Felix Project is part of the FareShare UK Network, which redistributes surplus food to every constituency across the UK. “The demand for food support remains very high, and our network urgently needs more fresh, nutritious food to meet it,” said Kris Gibbon-Walsh, CEO of FareShare. “Through a redesigned Sustainable Farming Incentive, the UK government has an opportunity to recognise surplus food redistribution as a public good and get more British-grown produce to people who need it. This is a practical, deliverable policy, and we’re ready to work with government, farmers, and partners like The Felix Project to make it happen.”
If you would like to read the policy paper, click here.
If you would like to read Argon & Co's report, please click here.
[1] Meal figure based on average meal weighing 420g (120,000*0.00042)
[2] Investment focused on harvested food only
