A new food redistribution hub has opened in east London with the ambitious goal of delivering up to 10 tonnes of food to charities and food banks every week. Because nothing says "modern society" quite like building infrastructure to make sure perfectly good food reaches hungry people instead of a landfill.

The Big Heart Food Hub in Barking will support more than 20 local organisations working directly with residents struggling with the cost of living. Most of the food will be unsold items that would otherwise have gone to waste - and will feed an estimated 7,000 residents each week.

"We are statistically the poorest borough in London and we recognise that there's a big need," said Nathan Grady, charity food coordinator. "People are missing meals - children are missing meals." A sentence that should be jarring in 2025, and unfortunately, isn't.

The hub is a partnership between Barking and Dagenham Council, The Kindness Offensive, Food for All, Felix, City Harvest and Kingsley Hall. Felix, a food redistribution charity, collects surplus food from shops and other providers so that it is not thrown away or incinerated - two options that were apparently the previous plan.

David Goodfellow, one of the managers at Big Heart and a founder of The Kindness Offensive, explained that the food goes to local organisations, food banks, soup kitchens and schools. "They are the ones who are on the front line and they don't have the resources to be able to feed all the people that are coming to their doors," he said. "We are a stepping stone, a middle ground between some of the big suppliers and some of the community-facing groups, to give them the supplies that they need. There's a lot of people who are hungry."

Sana Sajid is one of the people who will be receiving food from the Big Heart Food Hub to redistribute. She and her husband run a food club at Darul Ummah Goresbrook community centre for people struggling financially. "If we can help them with food, it means that they will have more money to pay their bills," she said. "It makes a big difference."

According to the Trust for London, food insecurity has increased by 23% from 2022/23 to 2024/25. That's a statistic that would be shocking if it weren't so depressingly predictable.

Saima Ashraf, deputy leader of Barking and Dagenham Council, said the focus was on delivering "surplus good food" through a partnership approach. "It's sad that we have to use food banks, however it is also sad that a lot of food is being thrown away," she said. "Surplus good food - not rotten food - is going to residents and families that deserve it." A clarification that says a lot about the state of things.

The partnership hopes that in the future, Big Heart will also offer volunteering programmes, training and development opportunities. "We don't want it just to be food distribution," said Grady. "We want to create jobs out of it and teach people how to cook with the food that they get. So when they come to a food bank they're not like: 'What's the celeriac? What do I do with it?'"

A perfectly reasonable question, to be fair. Celeriac is confusing even when you're not worried about your next meal.