The Duchess of Cornwall opens UK Harvest’s Nourish Hub
I am delighted to be a Trustee and Director of UK Harvest https://www.ukharvest.org.uk/
We are on a mission to eliminate hunger and reduce food waste through the redistribution of quality surplus food and education.
The Duchess of Cornwall, Patron of UKHarvest since 2017, visited and officially opened UK Harvest’s ‘Nourish Hub’ – a West-London based Community Kitchen, designed to combat social isolation and loneliness.
“very honoured and very touched”.
During the visit she spoke for the first time about The Queen’s wish for Camilla to be the future Queen Consort. She told us she is “very honoured and very touched”.
The Nourish Hub
The Nourish Hub is a purpose-built democratic space, run by charity UKHarvest, and forms part of Hammersmith and Fulham Council’s fight to end food poverty and tackle the climate emergency. Located in Shepherd’s Bush, it helps communities take a stand against food waste whilst coming together, eating well and learning essential skills for life.
Supported by £2.3 million from H&F Council and £1.1 million from the Mayor of London’s Good Growth Fund, the newly converted centre provides a fully functional space with a welcoming dining area, a working catering kitchen and fully equipped training kitchen. It currently offers a donation based lunch providing nutritious meals made from rescued produce, and hosts education sessions and social experiences to help the local community nourish their minds, bodies and souls.
Donate as you dine
The Hub offers a ‘donate as you dine’ scheme so there is always food available for everyone. It works just like a café, except all food is offered in exchange of a small donation. It serves healthy nutritious food made from rescued produce and work with the seasons to drive for a more sustainable future.
Meals are made fresh each morning, developed by in-house nutritionists and a team of chefs to bring customers vibrant food full of flavour. Many of the authentic recipes served are inspired from the traditional cuisines reflected in the cultures that surround the Hub.
Rescued Produce
Nourish Hub is part of UKHarvest who operate a food rescue and redistribution operation, and they use this rescued produce throughout their menu. They rescue edible surplus food from organisations such as farms, supermarkets and wholesalers that would otherwise go to waste but is often only surplus due to an overstock or not meeting high cosmetic standards set by consumers.
UKHarvest
UKHarvest work nationally to protect the environment and enrich the lives of their community through the medium of food. Established in 2017, UKHarvest use their expansive experience and expertise to run the Nourish Hub alongside their food rescue and redistribution operation, their education programme ‘NourishEd’, and their community and outreach work.
The success of these three core offerings have stopped over 1500 tonnes of food going to waste, provided over 5.5 million meals to vulnerable communities and helped upskill and educate over 12,000 people to fight food waste in the home.
UKH expects to deliver at least 5 million meals in 2022.
Background to food poverty
Pre-pandemic, around 700,000 UK households used a food bank, while data from the Trust for London found that almost one third (31 per cent) of residents living in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham were living in poverty in 2020
