FareShare, an organization based out of the UK, first had a motive to help the environment by liberating waste. They would find other uses for food other than just throwing it away. Now, with such a large demand for food, they send the food to halfway houses, homeless shelters, and soup kitchens to be cooked for people who are suffering from food poverty. Food poverty has risen in the UK because food prices are going up and more people can’t afford to pay for food anymore as their benefits decrease. They are afraid it is going to get even worse. They supplied around 48 tons of food three years ago. Now they supply around 98 tons of food because of the rising demand for food. There are around thirteen million people in living in poverty in the UK. A lot of those people are malnourished, some are young people who can’t find jobs, and there are some who do have jobs but can’t afford to feed their families.
What started out as an environmental organization, trying to decrease the amount of food waste, has turned into an organization helping to feed those in need. As the food and supermarket prices in the UK rise more people are having to rely on halfway houses and soup kitchens to feed their families. Food prices are rising because in 2010 severe weather and natural disasters destroyed food supplies in some of the world’s largest food exporting countries, and as the population grows we will have to find ways to support food demands. Estimates say that the global population will reach 9 billion by the middle of the century. The food crisis has become global with food riots in Haiti, the Philippines, and Egypt because they can’t afford the basic food items. The UN’s Food and Agricultural Organization said that the food crisis has put seventy-five million people into poverty and cannot feed their families. The UK says that food prices will continue to rise.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2011/oct/01/families-queue-for-food-handouts
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