A Stamford Hill food box service is giving away 500 boxes full of surplus “fruit and veg” to charity.

%image(15022810, type="article-full", alt="Pictured are volunteers Euphemia Chukwu, Jacqueline Myers, Phil Cooke and William Sheehy from Woodberry Aid. Picture: Streetbox")

The family-owned greengrocers - turned delivery service - has started the initiative because it is focused on reducing waste and making sure nutritious produce is available to all. It now operates a “buy a box, give a box initiative” with community interest company Edible London.

The hundreds of boxes donated by Streetbox will be distributed throughout Edible London’s charitable network. The company offers fruit and vegetables to people suffering from food poverty with an aim to eradicate it.

Soner Karagozlu, founder of Edible London, said: “Teamwork makes the dream work and that’s so true of our partnership with StreetBox. This gives us the opportunity to combat malnutrition, tackle food poverty and make this a sustainable blueprint.”

Waste and Resources Action estimates around 9.5m tonnes of food is wasted in the UK each year.

%image(15022811, type="article-full", alt="Streetbox is donating fruit and veg boxes to charity. Picture: Streetbox")

The 500 boxes will be distributed from StreetBox’s base of operations in Hackney and Edible London’s temporary home in Haringey, with Edible London distributing to their charitable network of 36 beneficiaries. The donations and partnership will help provide up to 50,000 meals for those affected by food poverty in the capital.

%image(15022812, type="article-full", alt="Streetbox in Stamford Hill is donating 500 boxes as part of a "buy a box, give a box initiative". Picture: Holly Chant")