Oxford Food Bank

The Greens are urging the City Council to put more funds into the Oxford Food Bank - which is experiencing increasing demand for its services.

The OFB collects good quality fresh food from local supermarkets and wholesalers and delivers it for free to numerous local registered charities. For every £1 received in donation at least £25 worth of fruit, vegetables, bread and dairy products are delivered. The charity not only feeds those unable to afford good food but helps prevent waste.

A bid by the Greens at the recent budget round to fund the Food Bank was voted down by the City's Labour administration but the Greens remain hopeful that existing, unallocated grant funding can be re-directed to the OFB. Says Green anti-poverty campaigner Steve Dawe who helped formulate the Green Budget:

"It is unacceptable that in a wealthy City such as Oxford anyone should be going hungry. With £10,000 per year, the sum proposed in the Green budget, the Food Bank can feed an extra 200 people per year. Please note that £10,000 constitutes less than 1% of the City's current grants budget.”