King Charles’ anti-food waste charity brings him ‘genuine joy’ after challenging health journey

The successful rollout of King Charles’s new charity food hubs have brought the monarch “genuine joy” after saving nearly a 1000 tonnes of food waste, Buckingham Palace aids have revealed.

The Coronation Food Project were set up to save and circulate tonnes of surplus food to support communities in need and  assist charities like FareShare and the Felix Project in their ongoing work.

So far, the project has saved 940 tonnes of food over the past 12 months which is equivalent to more than two million meals.

The palace source said the project which touches on two of the King’s passions, food waste and healthy eating, has given the Monarch “genuine joy” after a “challenging year” of health struggles.

“For His Majesty, there could be no better way to mark his birthday than to celebrate the astonishing achievements of the Coronation Food Project in just one year since its launch,” they said.

To mark his upcoming 76th birthday and celebrate the one year anniversary of the project, King Charles will will open the programs’ first two Hubs, one in person and one virtually.

He will visit the first, based in London, on Thursday to host a ‘surplus food festival’, which celebrates meals created from leftovers and then meet beneficiaries and representatives of food banks, schools and community groups.

Then he will open the second food hub, which is based outside of London, “virtually.”

The project has raised £15 million (over AUD $29 million) through private donations and a reportedly a six-figure sum, gifted by King Charles on his 75th birthday.

In the meantime the project has distributed grants worth £715,000 (nearly AUD $14,000) to 33 community food groups across the UK, to help alleviate the cost-of-living crisis.

Executive Chair of the Coronation Food Project Dame Martina Milburn said she could not quite believe what had been achieved in a year and that it was incredible to see the “massive new warehouses, fridges and freezers that will soon be stacked with surplus food and distributed to people in real need is incredible, especially as we head towards winter.”

“It seems fitting to be launching the first two Coronation Food Hubs on the King’s birthday because, quite honestly, none of this would have happened without his inspiration and leadership.”