Third World Food

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Paul Hargreaves

Chief executive of Cotswold Fayre

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I have spent some of this weekend planning a trip to Kenya later this week. Cotswold Fayre sponsors a child in our orphanage over there for each employee, so the number has grown quite a lot of late!

We have been associated with this project for only six months, so this is my first trip over there to ascertain what more we might do to help.  We are hoping that members of staff might be able to engage in projects to make a difference. 

I am also taking my nearly 16-year-old daughter Megan on the day she finishes her last GCSE, so also hoping that the trip will benefit her as well as the orphans.  I strongly believe that companies as well as individuals should always be reaching out of their own fairly narrow circle of influence as this not only benefits the communities into which they reach, but also gives us all a broader perspective on what we do in the UK. 

Bob Farrand, national director of the Guild of Fine Food, in his June opinion piece for Fine Food Digest is concerned that we import too much food suggesting, “That’s possibly why Cameron continues to increase Third World aid budgets while, at home, hospitals are closing, we’ve more potholes than tarmac on our roads and school crossing patrols have become an endangered species.”  Having checked out our 250 mile drive west from Nairobi on Thursday on the map, I discovered yesterday that half our journey will be on roads designated as “gravel”.  I haven’t told my daughter yet!  In that light, Bob, I think we can cope with the odd pothole.

More important than that I think it is essential that our government continues to give to the Third World.  We have (and waste) in abundance whilst much of the world starves.  How much more poignant is this to us in the food industry, when all of us at some point are throwing away food that would be considered perfectly good to eat in 67% of the world.  There are, of course, charities in the UK that funnel this waste to the Third World, and this is what we try and do whenever possible. Whatever condition our personal or business finances are in within this country, we are all incredibly rich and it is good to remind ourselves of that regularly.

Back to reality here – reports from people I have talked to in recent weeks suggest that business is generally steady without being spectacular.  I think spectacular will come if only we had some warmer weather.  Having been drenched at least 3 times this weekend, I was thinking this can’t be good for business!

Have a great week and you may hear from me from Kenya next week.