While British children go hungry, we waste 1.1bn meals a year. Bring on the redistribution revolution | Charlotte Hill

Food businesses and the government must make redistribution a key policy to address food insecurity. We know the surplus food is out there

• Charlotte Hill is chief executive of the food redistribution organisation Felix

How often does this happen? You open the fridge and find some ingredient you meant to use but didn’t get round to, and even though it’s still edible you think perhaps it’s just easier to throw it away. In the UK it’s estimated that an average household wastes about three meals a week, or 156 meals a year.

Household fridges are one thing. But across the food sector, more than 1bn meals’ worth of easily accessible surplus food is wasted each year in the UK for the same reason: because it is easier to throw it away. That equates to 470,000 tonnes – enough to feed every child in the UK three meals a day for a month. When so many people are struggling to afford food, that is a staggering amount – and what’s even more shocking is that it is good quality and nutritious.

Charlotte Hill is chief executive of the food redistribution organisation Felix

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