News
Open Kitchen MCR's Amazing Coronavirus response: Get busy and keep cooking!
For those of you who aren’t familiar with them.... Open Kitchen MCR is a waste food not for profit. They work with a huge range of food businesses to source perfectly edible food that will otherwise go to waste and use it to provide meals and food to a range of people. Under normal circumstances, they operate a waste food catering service to generate income (and stamp out food waste), and this subsidises our work supporting vulnerable people with hot nutritious meals, food and supplies.
They have been contacted by people who are going to struggle to keep themselves fed during the Coronavirus social distancing protocols. The first people affected seem to be those who are currently well, but at high risk due to existing health concerns, and therefore having to self-isolate. As the measures take hold, there is a huge number of people affected, including children who would normally receive a free school meal, people in food poverty who would normally visit a food bank or community centre for support, and people who become ill and have a limited network of support around them.
They are currently in contact with colleagues from Manchester and Greater Manchester authorities, the NHS, and other support organisations, and are helping in anyway they can with a coordinated response to support people through the crisis.
Donations to food banks are currently down as people who would usually support start to feel the strain. However food waste is currently massively on the rise as events are cancelled and businesses and education institutions shut down.
They are continuing to coordinate with the Greater Manchester wide effort to respond to people in crisis in a joined up, coordinated way. They are preparing good “home- cooked” meals and and delivering a mix of meals and groceries to people who are struggling.
They need your help!
SUPPORT: First and foremost, they need some financial support to deliver this service. If you can offer a donation or spread the word, please do! Every single penny of funds raised will go to buy supplies needed to deliver the service safely (cleaning supplies, take-away containers, etc), and to support prep and delivery costs.
Here’s a link to our Paypal Donate Page; https://www.paypal.me/realjunkfoodmcr
FOOD: If you are a business and you have food that will go to waste, we want it. Email [email protected]
They can accept;
• Any “un-prepped” food (i.e. raw ingredients; meat, fish, veg, cheese, milk, bread, etc) that has been stored correctly, whether that be fridge, freezer, or ambient.
• Prepped foods (e.g coleslaws or salads that have been made up by the food business) that are chilled and are still suitable for use for the next 48 hours.
• Any drinks, snacks or crisps that are packaged, even if they are past best before date.
• They cannot accept any ingredients or dishes that have been hot held - e.g. curries, meats, rice, etc that has been cooked and held at a hot serving temperature, as it will not be suitable for reuse.
• They cannot accept any products that are past Use By date.
• They cannot accept pre-prepared sandwiches (because they tend to need using on that day, and they can’t get them delivered in time to be useful)
« BECOME A FESTIVAL PARTNER FOR MFDF 2020 | Manchester Gin Goes Virtual with Stay Home Gin Tastings »
Posted on 8 April 2020