Edinburgh voluntary group Empty Kitchens, Full Hearts are tackling food poverty on an amazing scale – Steve Cardownie

Last Saturday morning I took the opportunity to pay a visit to the community interest company, Empty Kitchens, Full Hearts, who are currently operating out of Thomas Morton Hall at the foot of Ferry Road.

Empty Kitchens, Full Hearts was founded by professional chef Lewis McLachlan in March 2020 in response to the Covid crisis (Picture: Lisa Ferguson)

Dedicated to providing meals for those who are going without in the city I witnessed a well-oiled machine of volunteers working their socks off to get that day’s produce on the road and into the kitchens of the most needy.

Emma Poulton, business and marketing manager, informed me that their latest figures indicate that they had provided 480,581 meals – 70,830 so far this year – dispensing a daily total of 1,084 packs, delivering approximately 3,400 meals a day to 1,200 people.

In total they have serviced roughly 3,500 clients, relying on 883 volunteers to do so and have rescued over 160 tonnes of what would have been food waste in the process. All this with just £2,000 and a broken-down van of public sector support.

Emma told me: “We are happy to serve the whole of Edinburgh, without judgement or assessment and focus on providing healthy meals – with the odd bit of comfort food snuck in here and there! Our service is essential for many, with clients covering every imaginable demographic in Edinburgh, including nurses, shielding and vulnerable people, and struggling families. As well as benefiting our clients, we have grown a community of volunteers who have come to see us as a lifeline. By providing a productive, social and inclusive space we have provided over 800 people with a sense of purpose and routine throughout an impossibly difficult period of uncertainty and fear.”

Edinburgh councillor Gavin Barrie, who volunteers as a driver for the group, said that he witnesses first hand, on a daily basis, just what it means to the people he delivers to, who would have to go without eating were it not for Empty Kitchens, Full Hearts.

The organisation received good news last week when the city council’s finance committee approved their bid (in competition with three other interests) to lease council premises at West Granton Road which will allow them to expand and develop their organisation.

Local SNP ward councillor and chair of the Edible Edinburgh Partnership, George Gordon, is delighted that their bid was successful saying that it fits in well with the aims of the Edinburgh Poverty Commission, telling me that the decision was a “no-brainer” given the tremendous effort the organisation was making to care for the needy and those at the sharp end of food poverty.

Public Health Scotland (previously NHS Health Scotland) states, when referring to food poverty, that “it can have a detrimental impact on physical and psychological well-being so it is important for a person to have access to and the choice of an affordable, acceptable and healthy diet throughout their life”.

It is stating the obvious that there are far too many people who have been denied this access and choice and that it is lamentable that food banks and food charities are now in more need than ever.

Empty Kitchens, Full Hearts are doing their utmost to play their part and their army of volunteers deserve our admiration and gratitude.

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