Gleaning group gives £1m of produce to food banks
Gleaning Cornwall warns that more funding is needed as costs rise sharply.
**Gleaning group donates £1m of produce to food banks**
**Gleaning Cornwall depends on volunteers to cut food waste on farms**
A gleaning group has rescued £1m worth of fruit and vegetables that would otherwise have been left in fields and passed them on to food banks.
Gleaning Cornwall uses volunteers to gather unwanted produce from harvested fields, supplying it to 160 food banks, community larders and kitchens across the South West.
Even after hitting the seven-figure mark, the group has said it needs more funding to meet growing demand.
Dependence on food banks is rising, and Cornwall Council says the number of known settings offering food aid in Cornwall has increased from 20 to 180 since 2015.
The gleaning group has saved 460 tonnes of produce since the start of 2020
Gleaning Cornwall was launched in 2020 and says it has redirected more than 460 tonnes of produce since then.
But founder Holly Whitelaw said the charity is now under threat because of financial pressures.
"There is less money around and we need to do more with it," she said. "Our infrastructure urgently needs funding if we are to keep going."
The charity said it feeds 11,000 people each week, with the condition that all produce is given to recipients completely free of charge.
However, it said the costs of transport, storage and coordination were climbing rapidly.
This comes as food bank use is at record levels, with figures from Cornwall's Trussell Trust showing its food banks handed out more than 35,500 emergency food parcels between April 2024 and March 2025.
A Cornwall Council study found that 30% of children in the county are living in food poverty.
Whitelaw urged people to do their bit by cutting down on the food they throw away at home.
She said: "If we waste food, we waste the substantial energy that went into producing it.
"Utilising what we already have saves money and helps the environment."