by lennie | Sep 7, 2021 | Food Poverty, Food Waste
Every year, hundreds of thousands of tonnes of food is wasted in the UK food industry. Globally, 25–30% of total food produced is lost or wasted, and food waste is estimated to contribute to 8-10% of total man-made greenhouse gas emissions. If food waste were a country, it would be the world’s third largest emitter after China and the USA.
According to the most recent report by the charity ‘Waste and Resources Action Programme’ (WRAP), the UK have produced around 9.5 million tonnes of food waste in 2018. WRAP estimated that this waste had a value of over £19 billion a year and would be associated with more than 25 million tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions. It has said that of this waste, 6.4 million tonnes could have been eaten—the equivalent of over 15 billion meals!
The vast majority of food waste ends up in already overly crowded landfill sites. While many people do not view this as an issue as food items degrade naturally over time, it contributes heavily to global warming and the erosion of the O-Zone layer.’
What can you do to reduce food waste?
There are many resources you can find online and around the UK where you can gain access of cheap eats! There are great food apps such as ‘Too good to go’ which allows users to spend as little as £3. Their goal is to save unsold food from your local restaurants/cafes and store(s)!
Try to avoid over buying! You’ve heard of the term ‘your eyes are hungrier than your stomach’ do your pockets and planet a favour and avoid over buying! Although a packed fridge may temporarily look good, this can be a huge factor towards food waste if the house hold cannot eat it all.
Freeze your goods! – Freezing foods can help preserve them for later use and prevent them from spoiling. Many fresh fruits and vegetables keep well when frozen, extending their shelf life and reducing waste. Some foods can be preserved well in the freezer like bread, various meats and even prepared food dishes!
Many manufacturers put different labels on foods, like “sell by” or “use by.” These dates help markets know when to rotate their stock, but they can be confusing for consumers.
The easiest way to see if your food has gone bad is to trust the senses. If a product smells, looks, or tastes spoiled, it probably is. When in doubt, it’s best to throw it out!
Pack a lunch! – a very simple way of avoiding food waste on the go is to bring food from home. This can also save you money!
Hunger in the UK
It is said that there are 8.4 million people in the UK struggling to afford to eat – this is comparable to the entire population of London! The UN figures also show that ‘5.6% of people aged over 15 struggle to get enough food and a further 4.5% say that they have been a full day without eating anything. At Provide a Meal, we work with different charities, restaurant, organisations and individuals to ensure that the UK is a hunger free zone and we do this with our PAM App. To give as low as £3 pound meal to someone in need, Please download our app today. @provideameal
‘Kindness’
Taken in Portsmouth, UK, Original Photos by @LDA.Productions
by Bidemi Green | Sep 7, 2021 | PAM Application
We recently launched our mobile app to ease the process of donation for our supporters and donors in our local community. Meals provided via the app can be redeemed at our partner restaurants in no time.
Perhaps you’re still thinking if you really need the app, here are 5 awesome facts about the PAM App
1. Provide a meal on the go: With the app on your phone, You can provide a meal in a few clicks. Viola! Someone is fed because you took action. I bet it feels as good as it sounds
2. As little as 3pounds can feed a person: Giving doesn’t have to be a burden you know. With as little as 3 pounds, you can feed a vulnerable person. Too small? If you ask me, I’d say you’ve done a pretty good job. Thumbs up
3. You get to track the entire process from start to finish: At times you might wonder if your money is being used for the purpose you donated it. For transparency, you get to be notified once meals are redeemed at our partner restaurants. This is one notification to look out for. You can take it as a reminder of how large your heart it. of course not literally
4. Can also serve as a gift to loved ones: Yup! You read that correctly. Your loved ones can also benefit from this. Beware once you start there’s no going back on being such a thoughtful being that you are.
5. Free to download on app store and google play store: The app is available for download for both iPhone and Apple users for Free. No annoying ads or need to upgrade to a pro version.
We look forward to your reviews and comments
by Bidemi Green | Jul 6, 2020 | Food Poverty, News, Nutrition, PAM News
PAM successfully raised £4,300 within 28days to feed people during the Coronavirus Pandemic crisis. This notable milestone would not have been possible without the contribution of over 50 supporters who share the same vision with PAM to help provide food to the vulnerable. This campaign kicked off on our social media platforms with active participation from our followers who helped to spread the word to reach potential donors and people in need.
With the outbreak of Covid-19, some of our beneficiaries were unable to access nutritious food through our partner restaurants. As a result, our volunteers at PAM have been working tirelessly to ensure that people are catered for. We have been doing this by dropping off emergency food boxes to support our most vulnerable people and their families within Portsmouth.
Our goal with the crowdfunding campagn was to raise £4,000 by the 4th June 2020. However, the generous support we received helped us to meet and exceed the goal. We were pleased to raise a total of £4,300 by the end of the campaign. The amount raised will help to fill more emergency boxes to be sent out to those in need.
Part of this fund will also help to complete the development of the PAM’s mobile application which can be used to further feed families, individuals and their loved ones. The support we have received will ensure that our volunteers continue to put a smile on people’s faces during and after the lockdown.
PAM sends out a big thank you to to everyone for taking the necessary steps to ensure that we continue to keep people’s spirit high within Portsmouth. Here are some comments from PAM’s donors and supporters –
Rommel: Worthy charity helping and supporting to feed vulnerable people
Oyekunle: This is a fantastic idea, especially during this testing time. Well done to the team
Michael: I strongly believe in supporting the less privileged and the hungry and hence why I’m supporting PAM
Ajibola: Support the initiative to help others and put a smile on someone’s face.
by Admin | Apr 29, 2020 | News
Over the past few weeks, all of us have seen a massive distruption to what we see as “normal day to day” and in-fact the new “normal” is not normal. It is very evident that we all need each other more than ever. We have to come together as a community to support each other through this uncertain time. Some families are under pressure and we have had families and individuals contact us for support. In response, we are now providing emergency meal parcels to some of our beneficiaries, students and families that need extra support at this time.
This is in addition to the services we offer through PAM feeding application. We are grateful and saying thank you to all our donors and our volunteers that have made this weekly food boxes possible.
This is a quick update on what we are doing at this time. We will keep you updated on all further changes to our services. If you would like to volunteer or help us further meet this urgent needs, kindly get in touch by sending an email to [email protected]
by Admin | Jan 22, 2020 | Food Poverty, Hot Meals, PAM News
Every food poverty story is different, but every new story is one too many. A research by the Social Market Foundation shows that groceries were a strain on the finances of four in ten individuals with a household income of £10,000 or less. A quarter of individuals said that healthy and nutritious food was unaffordable and One in ten said that they had to cut back on their own level of food consumption so that others in their family (such as children) can eat.
“Provides A Meal” is an application designed to feed people in need and ultimately give healthy food. We are committed to making UK a hunger fee zone but to do this, we need everyone to get involved. Our application is designed to bring everyone together to solve this problem such that, individuals who identify someone hungry can provide a meal-code for them and the beneficiaries don’t need a phone to get a meal. With such meal-code created on the app, the beneficiary can only use it to get a meal from a partner restaurant and nothing else. We had two options on how to give the meal-codes to people in need;
1. Giving through a charity
2. Giving directly to the person in need.
With the 2nd option however, we are consulting with The Charity Commission to define the category of people that can receive the meal-codes. For now, the codes can only be given to any Charity Partner on the platform but as soon as the charity commission gives the go ahead to use the individual option on the application, we will update our application and users can continue to provide meals directly for people they have identified as hungry.
by Rita Twum | Dec 24, 2019 | Hot Meals, Nutrition
Did you know that your choice of meal everyday has an impact on you today, tomorrow and the future? This is simply because the food we consume is fuel for our body therefore when you provide your body with the essential fuel, it will be protected and will perform well however, providing the body with bad nutrition means that you’re putting the body at risk. Healthy nutrition enables a healthy lifestyle. Having a healthy nutrition comes with various benefits such as;
Improved mood
Improved weight
Strong bones
Improved memory
Better night sleep
All the benefits above has the capability to transform your life for the better therefore, we encourage you to take your nutrition into consideration for a healthy lifestyle.
Why not team up with Us at Provide A Meal (PAM) and let’s ensure that someone gets a healthy meal a day, Provide A Meal.
by Rita Twum | Dec 6, 2019 | Food Poverty
Donations and its importance
Did you know that donating comes with lots of benefits?
A donation is a gift for charity, humanitarian aid, or to benefit a cause. A donation may take various forms, which includes, money, alms, services, goods or food and may also satisfy medical needs and reduce poverty and hunger.
The benefits of this selfless act aren’t just experienced by the beneficiaries but also by the donors as well. It has been proven that donating;
- gives a feeling of satisfaction
- promotes good health
- helps others in need
- makes people happy as it removes or reduces hardship
- promotes generosity
- makes you realise that every little bit matter
- makes a difference
- stops hunger
With as little as £3, you can make a difference by using technology to offer meal-codes to people in need. The meal-codes can either be donated to our charity partners or given to the individuals directly (beneficiaries).
Your donations will help us at Provide a Meal (PAM) to continue the good work and to give meal codes to our partnered charities and beneficiaries. To make a donation;
Create a meal code on www.provideameal.com
Donate the meal code to a charity or beneficiary
Beneficiary gets a meal from our food partners
Make a difference! Donate Now! Stop Hunger!
Provide A Meal.
by Rita Twum | Nov 15, 2019 | Food Poverty, Hot Meals
Hunger is a feeling! Indeed, it is a feeling of discomfort and weakness caused by lack of food.
Hunger aggregated to the global level with food insecurity (limited or unreliable access to foods that are safe and nutritionally adequate), undernourishment and starvation is known as World Hunger.
Causes of Hunger
- Poverty – This is one of the main sources of hunger due to lack of finance.
- Conflict – More than half (489 million) of the 815 million hungry people in the world live in countries affected by conflict. This ranges from non-state and state-based violence to one-sided violence.
- Climate Change – Too much, or too little rainfall can destroy harvests or reduce the amount of animal pasture available. For countries facing prolonged conditions or yearly disasters, undernutrition worsens as there is little time for recovery.
- Food Shortage – In some part of the world, there are times during the year when food supplies from the previous harvest are exhausted and families are forced to skip one (or more) meals each day in the period before the next harvest.
- Poor Public Policy – Systemic problems such as poor infrastructure or low investment in agriculture can prevent food and water from reaching the world populations that need them the most.
Ways to stop Hunger
- Education – Access to a better education usually opens the door for a better and brighter future. Some countries provide free school meals to pupils regardless of their ability to pay.
- Managing natural resources – learning about sustainable resource management is also vital for those (communities) who rely on natural resources for their income and food intake.
- Spread the Word – Information can reach those who are not aware but possibly prevent one from hunger by spreading the word through social media and other avenues.
- Food Donation & Provision – Giving and making donations are one of the simplest ways to stop hunger.
Let’s team up to stop hunger. Provide a Meal.
by Rita Twum | Nov 11, 2019 | Food Poverty, Nutrition
Did you know that the inability to afford or make up a healthy diet or meal is called Food Poverty?
Food poverty is when an individual or household have crisis in their personal circumstances or finance and consequently, can’t access the food they would like to eat.
Research has shown that food poverty may lead to poor nutrition, mental distress, social-emotional problems, developmental risks and other health related issues and complications.
According to the World Bank, nearly 2 million people in the UK are undernourished and an estimated 8.4 million people in the UK struggle to get enough food to eat.
A healthy meal is important for our well-being and development. Lets work together to stop food poverty and hunger in our communities and nation. Help someone today.
Provide a Meal.
by Rita Twum | Nov 4, 2019 | Food Poverty, Hot Meals, Nutrition
“Providing meals to the less privileged with the help of technology”
I’m certain we’ve all come across someone who’s either homeless or less privileged on the street or somewhere else. They asked for money for food but we were hesitant to give because we weren’t sure whether they would actually use it for food.
Well.. at Provide a Meal (PAM), we are here to make a difference. With as little as £3 using technology, we are able to offer meal-codes that can be given to such people.
We have different avenues to deliver the meal-codes to those in need and these meal-codes can either be donated to our charity partners or given to the individuals (beneficiaries)
So here is how it works;
Create a meal code on our website or App
Donate the meal code to a charity or beneficiary
Beneficiary gets a meal from our food partners
You’ll get a notification when the meal code has been claimed by the beneficiary with additional information, such as date and location of where the code was claimed.
Become a donor and let’s team up to stop hunger because everyone deserves at least one meal a day!
For more information, visit –
http://www.provideameal.com
[email protected]
https://www.facebook.com/provideameal
https://www.instagram.com/provideameal/
