Surrey food giveaway shatters world record for produce donations
Around 30,000 people gathered at Surrey's Cloverdale Agriplex to receive free imperfect fruits and vegetables, setting a new Guinness World Record for the largest 24-hour produce donation.
Ugly Potato Day transformed the Cloverdale Agriplex in Surrey into a bustling distribution hub, where roughly 30,000 visitors collected up to two bags of imperfect produce supplied by 25 farms, 70% of which were local. The giveaway amassed 246,528.61 kilograms of fruits and vegetables, a figure.2 kilograms from 2016. Guests, including motivational speaker Tony Robbins and staff from Odd Bunch and the food-rescue nonprofit Sharing Excess, helped distribute items such as carrots, potatoes, corn, lettuce, watermelon, cantaloupes and cherry tomatoes.
Founder and CEO Evan Ehlers of Sharing Excess described the event as “beautiful chaos” and highlighted the logistical challenges of coordinating donors, transport and safety. The record-breaking distribution underscores the link between food waste and food insecurity, illustrating how surplus produce can be redirected to those in need.
Why it matters
The record highlights how large-scale food rescue can combat waste and hunger simultaneously.
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