On the application Olio, you’ll find a ton of people giving away food and other household items. Now, the app has partnered with the supermarket Tesco to give away all their unwanted food that would otherwise go in the bin.
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Food waste in the UK
Food waste is a huge problem in the UK and all around the world. Countless times, fast food chains and supermarkets have made headlines for throwing away perfectly good food. In the UK alone, we throw away 7,3 million tonnes of food each year. This equates to £13 billion. Meanwhile, countless families cannot afford to have a warm meal every day.
Thankfully, supermarkets can be part of the solution. Tesco is giving away all the food they cannot sell in stores anymore. The scheme that started as a trial with select Tesco stores is now being rolled out to all stores across the UK.
Ready, set, claim your free food!
Follow these steps to get free food
- Download the free Olio app available on Apple's iOS App Store or the Google Play Store, or via the Olio web app
- Sign up. Use your email address, or connect the app to your Facebook account
- Once you're signed up, browse free goodies from neighbours, restaurants and now Tesco stores near you. Use specific filters to narrow down what you want by what's been most recently added or whatever is closest to you
- To spot Tesco food, change your settings to see items from 'Food Heroes.' Bear in mind that free food from Tesco may not be always available
- Request your food and message to arrange a pick-up. You'll pick up at an agreed, no-contact collection point to abide by social distancing guidelines
The app Olio is a sharing community, so you can offer free food as well as claim it. If you have old cans lying around your pantry, you could give them away to a family in need. You might not think it's much, but gesture could go a long way.
