How Erskine’s ‘Zero Heroes’ Pantry Tackles Food Waste Through Community Empowerment

Renfrew-based initiative EBI Unites is using their food pantry to tackle social inequality and prevent fit-to-eat food from going to landfill

Based in Erskine Church of the Nazarene, the ‘Zero Heroes’ food pantry and resilience center offers personalised levels of support to families from Erskine, Bishopton, and Inchinnan, who are experiencing financial insecurity. The pantry is a cheap ‘market’ style set-up open weekdays from 9:30am until 2pm, where residents can select food based on taste and nutrition, rather than what little income they might have left after covering bills and debts.

Project leader Jacqui Reid said: “We set up EBI Unites at the very beginning of COVID, as a way of helping people struggling through the pandemic. Our first package was sent out during the first week of lockdown, and since then we’ve delivered over 40,000 bags of food to families all over Renfrewshire.

“It started out in my dining room, but once we realized the depth of the issue given lockdown, we commandeered some garages on our street. We were eventually offered a space to stay long term, in the Church of the Nazarene, where we now have our walk-in centre. We also have Barnhill Farm in Inchinnan, which is our distribution base.”

The pantry is volunteer-driven, with a crew comprising more than 60 good Samaritans, whose unwavering affinity for community involvement sees them not only help people struggling to put food on the table, but also offer sympathetic support to families, and individuals, who are suffering mentally because of financial woes.

Reid said: “A typical day in our project could mean just comforting a family who have reached the absolute depths of their mental health, and who have suddenly realised that the food in their cupboard won’t stretch out the rest of the week.”

Natalie Don, MSP for Renfrewshire North and West, said: “We absolutely do have poverty in this constituency. It’s right in front of your eyes whether you’re in a town like Erskine, or you’re in a smaller village.

“The pantry is really important because it’s breaking the stigma around poverty, and it’s something that the entire community can access and make good use of, if they’re struggling.”

Zero Heroes keeps their shelves stocked by collecting surplus food on weekday evenings, from local big-name supermarkets like Marks & Spencer’s, Sainsbury’s, and five different Co-ops in the area. That food is then sold at the pantry, or when no longer suitable for human consumption, sent off to nearby farms as animal fodder.

Reid said: “We utilise food as long as it’s fresh, so eventually it will get to a stage where it’s not practical for people to eat anymore.

“We currently supply our excess food to a dairy farm, a beef cattle farm, and a free-range chicken farm, in Inchinnan, Bridge of Weir, and Houston. Then in exchange, those farmers reciprocate the favour by delivering their fresh produce to us.

“We also utilise national partners, who go around supermarkets further afield and then deliver food to us. Part of our food also comes from FareShare, which is a national we’ve purchased membership in, so that guarantees a certain ton of food from them every week.”

From an environmental stance, Zero Heroes champions waste reduction by granting new life to supermarket leftovers that would’ve otherwise ended up in landfill and added to Scotland’s rapidly growing surplus food mountain. The pantry welcomes along people who aren’t necessarily facing financial trouble, but just want to spare good food from being thrown away.

Reid said: “There’s a space here for everyone here, whether it’s from a climate-impact point of view, or whether it’s from a food insecurity point of view.

“Zero Heroes is an opportunity to come in and buy four apples for 10p, to support people who can’t afford to buy them, but also to show you’re playing your part in reducing waste.”

According to Zero Waste Scotland, we throw away around 570,000 tons of food and drink annually, over 69% of which was perfectly good to eat. Reid believes we can all make a difference, but change starts at home.

She said: “Every single person needs to look at what the small difference is, in their life, that will essentially make a big difference overall.

“We try to educate people, for example, on how it’s safe to eat food that comes with a best before date once that date is past. A lot of people aren’t able to sustain the foods they’re reliant on, just because they have a lack of cooking skills. Basic knowledge about healthy diets and nutrition limits people.

“Communities can benefit from less food waste because it contributes to the greenhouse effect. We’re acting locally but thinking globally. Whatever you do in your household impacts what’s happening across the planet. If we all play a small part, then we’re all helping cut down the risk of greenhouse emissions.”