Food bank ‘overwhelmed’ by farmer food donations

Staff at London food bank City Harvest say they have been “overwhelmed” by large amounts of food donated by British farmers.

Organisers of the London Farming Rally, which took place at Westminster on Tuesday 19 November, asked participants to bring British produce for a mass donation to the city’s food banks.

Farmers did not disappoint.

See also: Farmers will fight inheritance tax plans, warns NFU leader

A huge amount of food produced on British farms has been donated – everything from the finest cauliflowers and potatoes from The Fens to flour, fruit and vegetables, and even perishable items such as meat and milk.

Generous farmers filled wheelbarrows full of British produce, waded through the crowd, and queued patiently to donate their food to the City Harvest stand at Richmond Terrace, Whitehall.

British Sugar also donated 1t of sugar to the food bank collection.

Speaking to the Farmers Weekly Podcast at the London Farming Rally, Richard Barker, from City Harvest, said they had been “bowled over” by the level of donations.

“We’ve had a couple of lorries and a few vans [filled with food]. But we can’t get down to where it all is at the moment because it’s so busy,” he added.

“Everybody has been kind enough to carry a lot of the food to the vans for us.”

The produce will be donated to 400 food banks, soup kitchens and hostels across London.

The aim of the mass food donation was to highlight the importance of British farming and food production to the country and economy.

It comes as the NFU warns the government is risking the break-up of British family farms and the nation’s food producers with its plans to introduce a 20% inheritance tax on agricultural assets worth in excess of £1m from April 2026.