The former University of Bristol student's community project, 'Eat United Nicaragua', combats food poverty and malnutrition among the most vulnerable people in Managua, Nicaragua, by collecting and cooking food that would otherwise go to waste.
Whilst volunteering in Nicaragua Katie was shocked by the amount of edible food that was thrown away at the end of the day, especially in a community where many are underfed and undernourished. The contradiction of seeing food poverty and food waste within the same community inspired her to start up the project in March 2013.
Since then her project has grown and now involves a team of volunteers who collect food from supermarkets, bakeries and local markets. This is then used to provide free and nutritious meals for children.
To ensure a sustainable change the project involves local people and also provides educational workshops on food, waste and nutrition.
'Eat United Nicaragua' collaborates with some of the biggest wholesale markets in Managua, reducing their waste and feeding over 130 children per week. 'Eat United' has served over 1,000 plates of food to local street children and to others in need.
Katie said: "The response so far has been excellent. The most pleasing thing for me is that the rest of the volunteers are all Nicaraguan locals. It's crucial that the people living in the community help their own in order for 'Eat United Nicaragua' to be a sustainable project."
One of Katie's major achievements for the project has been a live interview on Nicaraguan television. There are many more exciting events to come, including a documentary and a food festival in the summer to raise awareness of Katie's mantra: "food poverty and food waste should never coexist".
Katie became aware of the problems of food poverty and food waste whilst studying in Bristol through other students and programmes such as FoodCycle and Feed the 5K.
Explore further: Can the redistribution of surplus food really improve food security?
More information: foodcycle.org.uk/
www.feeding5k.org/
http://ift.tt/LPvTYM
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The former University of Bristol student's community project, 'Eat United Nicaragua', combats food poverty and malnutrition among the most vulnerable people in Managua, Nicaragua, by collecting and cooking food that would otherwise go to waste.
Whilst volunteering in Nicaragua Katie was shocked by the amount of edible food that was thrown away at the end of the day, especially in a community where many are underfed and undernourished. The contradiction of seeing food poverty and food waste within the same community inspired her to start up the project in March 2013.
Since then her project has grown and now involves a team of volunteers who collect food from supermarkets, bakeries and local markets. This is then used to provide free and nutritious meals for children.
To ensure a sustainable change the project involves local people and also provides educational workshops on food, waste and nutrition.
'Eat United Nicaragua' collaborates with some of the biggest wholesale markets in Managua, reducing their waste and feeding over 130 children per week. 'Eat United' has served over 1,000 plates of food to local street children and to others in need.
Katie said: "The response so far has been excellent. The most pleasing thing for me is that the rest of the volunteers are all Nicaraguan locals. It's crucial that the people living in the community help their own in order for 'Eat United Nicaragua' to be a sustainable project."
One of Katie's major achievements for the project has been a live interview on Nicaraguan television. There are many more exciting events to come, including a documentary and a food festival in the summer to raise awareness of Katie's mantra: "food poverty and food waste should never coexist".
Katie became aware of the problems of food poverty and food waste whilst studying in Bristol through other students and programmes such as FoodCycle and Feed the 5K.
Explore further: Can the redistribution of surplus food really improve food security?
More information: foodcycle.org.uk/
www.feeding5k.org/
http://ift.tt/LPvTYM
Medical Xpress on facebook
Related Stories
Can the redistribution of surplus food really improve food security?
Oct 25, 2013
While surplus food redistribution has been promoted as a way of reducing food waste and food poverty, a paper published recently in Journal of Environmental Planning and Management concludes that unless a distinction is drawn ...
Breakfast excellent fuel for learning
Sep 04, 2013
As children head back to school this week, new research by the University of Leeds has shown that children who eat breakfast are more likely to have higher school grades.
Nicaragua gears up to aid threatened tapirs
Oct 05, 2013
Nicaragua is pulling out the stops to try to aid threatened tapirs, an endangered mammal sometimes mistaken for anteaters or tiny hippos.
Almost 20 percent of grain in China lost or wasted from field to fork
Sep 04, 2013
A comprehensive new review of food waste in the People's Republic of China has concluded that about 19 of every 100 pounds of grain produced in the country go to waste, with related losses of water for irrigation ...
Britons waste $40 billion in food annually
Mar 03, 2008
Britain is throwing away nearly half of all the food it produces, costing the nation an estimated $40 billion a year, it was reported Sunday.
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37 minutes ago
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50 minutes ago
More than 500 health care professionals have signed an open letter to MPs urging their support for a ban on smoking in vehicles with children in. The ban forms part of the Children and Families Bill, whic ...
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19 hours ago
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