Free food - Olio
Food for free sounds too good to be true, but a new app called Olio does just that. Even better, it helps reduce food waste.
In the same way as Freegle and Freecycle allow people to give away unwanted goods, Olio allows people to give away edible food to those in their area. It's free to sign up, and their app can be downloaded for free from Google Play, iOS or Android app store.
All food shared on the site has to be edible, although it may be opened, and within the use-by dates. Basically, you only give away food you would still eat. The app does give very good guidance on what can be shared.
Food waste is an endemic problem in the UK. Take a look at some of the statistics:
8.4 million people in the UK are struggling to find enough to eat. (1)
250 000 tonnes of food that goes into waste each year is edible (1)
The annual value of waste food is £23 billion (2)
The average UK household lost £470 a year in waste food (3)
Olio says:
OLIO connects neighbours with each other and with local shops so surplus food and other items can be shared, not thrown away.
I've signed up, and we need to grow the network in our area. Join me, so we can share our surplus, and stop waste.
1) https://fareshare.org.uk/what-we-do/hunger-food-waste/
2) https://foodawarecic.org.uk/stats-2/
3) https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201617/cmselect/cmenvfru/429/429.pdf