Fresh approach to solve food poverty

Supermarket chain Lidl says it could provide thousands of tonnes of surplus food stocks free to struggling families if enough charity food banks were set up to handle storage and distribution.

The retailer yesterday launched an initiative that will see it make 300 tonnes of food, or some 120,000 meals, available each year to people suffering food poverty.

However, the project involves just eight of its 136 stores in the Republic because the country’s only full-time food bank does not have the space or resources to handle a bigger donation.