Bury St Edmunds food waste charity Still Good Food donates more than 200 freshly picked apples to Stanton Primary School

Food waste charity Still Good Food has donated more than 200 freshly picked apples to Stanton Primary School thanks to the efforts of its ‘gleaning’ team and a passionate pupil.

The apples were rescued from Feltons Farm in Barrow, near Bury St Edmunds, by charity volunteers, including seven-year-old Clara McFarland, who collectively picked more than a tonne of fruit by gleaning.

Gleaning is the process of collecting surplus produce directly from farms which would otherwise go to waste.

The Estivale variety of apples were overlooked by supermarket buyers as they were ‘not red enough’ to meet the strict class one fruit requirements, due to the impact of climate change.

Clara, the youngest volunteer on the gleaning team, wanted to share the fruit with her friends and neighbours, so mum and Still Good Food trustee Kate McFarland, arranged with head teacher Mrs Bonnelykke, for every child at school to have an apple each. Still Good Food

Gleaning coordinator, Roz Scott, accompanied Kate on a special visit to the school near Bury St Edmunds on Thursday, September 12 to hand over 260 apples and run an assembly on food waste.

Roz works closely with farmers across Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to try and rescue all farm fresh produce that doesn’t meet supermarket standards, including weather blemished fruit and small and oversized vegetables.

Recognising the Estivale apples wouldn’t sell, Feltons Farm owners Tim and Debbie Evans contacted the charity to see if Still Good Food would come to the rescue.

Roz said: “Without a buyer, these apples were destined to fall to the ground and rot.

“Gleaning is an incredibly important part of our mission to rescue ‘Still Good Food’ and reduce food waste.

“All the apples were picked fresh from the tree and I am thrilled these apples have now been passed on to be enjoyed by children, as well as being distributed through our shops.

“Plus, thanks to Clara, we have had the opportunity to talk to the children about our mission and why reducing food waste is so important.

“We are very grateful to Feltons Farm and all farmers who allow us to glean fantastic local produce.

“These beautiful apples are a cross bred variety between Golden Delicious and Stark, which gives them a fantastic sweetness and terrific crunch.”

The apples were gleaned earlier in the week by a group of volunteers, including the British Lions.

Still Good Food arranged for pickers to collect as much fruit as they could fit into a transit van, provided by local hire company Herd.

Within two hours, the volunteers had picked over a tonne of fruit for Still Good Food to distribute through their two shops in Bury St Edmunds and Great Barton, as well as for the volunteers to distribute to other charities throughout Suffolk.

At Stanton Primary School’s special assembly, the children heard about how food waste contributes to climate change, which was one of the factors affecting the fruit’s ripening process.

This year due to the lack of cold nights, the apples didn’t undergo their full colour change from green to red, leaving them without a home to go to.

Mrs Bonnelykke, head teacher at Stanton Primary School said: “Thanks to Still Good Food for providing these apples to our pupils.

“We appreciate the value of our local farming community being a rural primary school and the children were interested to hear about their journey to us.

“We are working hard in the school to introduce children to nature and the great outdoors and hope this assembly will encourage them to think about where their food comes from.”

Still Good Food works to reduce food waste across the supply chain, working with local farmers to reduce food miles and the carbon impact of food.