Part of 2. Questions to the Minister for Rural Affairs and North Wales, and Trefnydd – in the Senedd at 2:52 pm on 2 February 2022.
Thank you for that response. FareShare Cymru has celebrated its tenth birthday recently, and they're needed now more than ever, I would say. One aspect of their work is to run the Surplus with Purpose Cymru fund. The fund—which is funded by Government, in fairness—is intended to work with food businesses and farmers to prevent food waste by paying the costs of harvesting, packaging, freezing, transportation, whatever is needed to ensure that any leftover food is diverted to those who need it. The closing date for bids to that fund is at the end of this month, so can I ask you, as the Minister working most closely with food businesses and the agriculture sector, to make a particular effort in these final few weeks to promote that fund among those that you're involved with? Can I also, just as importantly if not more importantly, ask you to work with the Minister for Climate Change in order to ensure that this key fund can continue for next year, because of course, in tackling food waste, it does turn an environmental problem into a social solution?