To commemorate his 75th birthday, King Charles will be featured as the cover star of the upcoming issue of the Big Issue magazine, an organization that assists homeless individuals. The King will utilize this opportunity to promote his Coronation Food Project, which is set to launch on his birthday, November 14th. The initiative’s goal is to aid those in need of food while simultaneously preventing food waste.
King Charles firmly believes that food insecurity is a critical issue that urgently needs to be addressed. The food project, he explains, will address two problems simultaneously: the growing numbers of individuals unable to afford food and the vast amounts of perfectly good food that go to waste. The King states that “If a way could be found to bridge the gap between them, then it would address two problems in one”.
According to the Coronation Food Project, 14 million individuals in the UK are affected by food insecurity, with food banks experiencing an increased demand. The Trussell Trust charity, which operates food banks, announced that between April and September of 2023, food banks gave out 1.5 million emergency food packages, a 16% increase compared to the previous year. Nearly two-thirds of these parcels were intended for families with children.
At the same time, the food industry wastes millions of tonnes of food, which the initiative aims to save. The project seeks supermarkets, farmers, and distributors to collaborate to rescue goods that might otherwise be discarded. Currently, there are 8,500 charities distributing surplus food, but the Coronation Food Project aims to establish regional distribution centres to make this a more efficient network.
Baroness Louise Casey, the project’s co-chair, claims that too many individuals in the UK suffer from poverty and malnutrition, while the farming, manufacturing, and food sectors waste too much food. She believes the initiative would address both issues simultaneously.
King Charles is hosting a party on November 15th in Gloucestershire to celebrate his 75th birthday. Additionally, the Royal Mint has produced a commemorative coin to mark the occasion, using silver recycled from clinical and industrial X-ray film for the first time. Finally, as he enters his second year of royal duties, King Charles will be rebranding his charities, with the Prince’s Trust becoming the King’s Trust, and the Prince’s Foundation becoming the King’s Foundation
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