A guest blog from our partner Christian Aid
As the nights draw in and Christmas markets pop up cross the UK filling the air with the scent of oranges and cinnamon, the warm summer nights spent at Greenbelt seem like a long distant memory. At this time of joyful celebration, festive cheer and brussels sprouts, our mission to combat food waste and climate change could not be more pressing.
Thousands of you visited our café at the festival to share in tea and cake or a delicious meal lovingly prepared by the Real Junk Food Project, made from food destined for landfill. You prevented the resources it took to grow the food from going to waste, you also donated hundreds of kilos of leftover food to the local foodbank at the end of the festival. You combated food waste and protected the environment. Here at Christian Aid, we want to say “thank you” and to ask you to do a little more.
This Christmas, 74 million mince pies, 1,000 wheelie bins’ worth of sprouts and 2 million turkeys will be wasted. While we enjoy a time of plenty, meaning excess food won’t be missed, it’s shocking that women like Colette in Burkina Faso and Achai Khan in South Sudan are struggling to feed their children.
Both women worked hard in mines or collecting wild leaves to feed their families, but it wasn’t enough and their children became severely malnourished. Both countries have been devastated by drought, flooding and conflict which makes food difficult to grow and expensive to buy. With the support of Christian Aid, local partners in both countries have helped the families. Colette now has a market garden near her home where she grows food to share with her family and enough to sell to make a little money. Achai Khan has received vouchers she uses at the market to buy nutritious porridge for her baby.
Christian Aid’s Christmas Appeal enables you to share in the joy of the season with people from Burkina Faso and South Sudan who need support, whilst reducing food waste. We ask two things. Firstly, have a think about what ends up in the bin on Boxing Day. Could you do your bit for the environment and not buy that food? This will reduce wasted resources, help the planet and save cash! Secondly, if you are able, would you share the savings with our Christmas Appeal?
Whatever you give, no matter how small, will be doubled by the brilliant people at UK Aid who are supporting us by matching up to £2.7 million of funding. Your donations will help us support other families like Colette’s and Achai Khan’s. Donate here!