Community food boxes 'selling out within minutes'

Families of school pupils are getting help with the cost of living through a community food box scheme.

Called the Green Box Project, it is based at Okehampton Primary School in Devon and involves volunteers taking surplus food from the charity FareShare South West and packing supplies into boxes which are then sold to parents.

Organisers said the project, which sees about £20 worth of food sold for £2.50, said they planned to roll it out to other locations.

Melissa Trudgill, the community engagement lead for Dartmoor Multi Academy Trust, said: "Sometimes we sell out within 10 minutes."

The trust said the aim was to reduce food waste while helping parents and families eat well.

About 40 boxes are sold every Thursday after school, said Ms Trudgill, who organised the scheme.

"The word has spread," she said.

"It's certainly spread out into the community as well.

"I think the idea of marketing it as an environmental project is a really good idea because it takes away any kind of shame or stigma."

The contents of each box varies, but they will have fruit and vegetables along with other items such as salmon fillets, garlic bread, sour cream, chicken and vegetable soup.

Josie Forsyth, deputy chief executive of FareShare South West, said: "We take an environmental problem of food waste and we turn it into social good by sharing with people like this.

"The vast majority of the food we share is fresh fruit, vegetables, dairy... that not only helps children feel full up but helps them to thrive, to concentrate at school, to be equal to their peers."

The trust rolled out the project at Tavistock Primary School in September and it was planning to take it to other sites as well.