Blog by Fanni Barocsi, University of Edinburgh student

Charities around Scotland and other parts of the world play a vital role regarding food security in local communities. Here I provide an overview of the many organizations and charities committed to helping promote food security and sustainability in Scotland. Nourish Scotland works hard to help make nutritious food accessible. Love Food Hate Waste is devoted to raising awareness about the necessity of reducing food waste, while the Pilton Community Health Project is dedicated to ensuring that the local community is healthy.

Cyrenians is a charitable organization grounded in the values of compassion, respect, integrity and innovation. Through their Community Gardens, they work closely with local communities, encouraging them to grow, cook and eat nutritious food together. Ultimately, their aim is to empower these communities and reduce their dependency on global markets.

The Cyrenians farm, located just outside of Edinburgh, is also busy producing a variety of delicious fruits, vegetables and eggs. The farm serves as a great place for interested individuals to nurture skills.

Edinburgh locals can also purchase Veg Bags full of goodies from the farm. The Veg Bags contain everything necessary to cook the perfect, nutritious meal including potatoes, root vegetables, onions, fresh mixed salad and many more yummy items. And if you’re yearning for some excitement in your life the Bags also come with a ‘Wild Card’ to encourage some creative cooking.

The charity also has a Food Education team devoted to educating people to eat well and be budget conscious about their meals. They run two cooking courses on a weekly basis year round. They focus on preparing food, budgeting effectively and planning menus.

Cyrenians also manages the FareShare program for Central and South East Scotland. The FareShare network is UK wide and works to redistribute food to not-for-profit organizations. This initiative collects surplus food and provides for homeless hostels and foodbanks. It’s a simple concept that goes a long way to increasing access as well limiting food waste.

Do you know of any other charities working with food security? We’d be pleased to hear about them.