Giovanna Eusebi in fight against school holiday hunger

Giovanna Eusebi joined food charity FareShare to kick off its #FORFOODSAKE campaign.

The Eusebi deli owner cooked on board the Red Bus Bistro in Shettleston, using surplus food supplied by FareShare Glasgow’s Family Food Service.

The idea behind the scheme is to raise awareness of the number of children going hungry over the school holiday periods without school meals to rely upon – and to demonstrate how delicious, nutritious meals can be created from food that would otherwise be wasted.

Tackling holiday hunger has become a priority at both government and local authority level, as families across the country struggle to cope.

FareShare Glasgow collects good quality, in-date, surplus food from manufacturers, retailers and producers and redistributes it to more than 85 charities and community groups, including women’s refuges, homeless shelters and breakfast clubs.

The initiative reaches around 18,000 people per week, helping some of the country’s most vulnerable people, and the Glasgow base works closely with the charity’s other regional centres in Scotland, in Edinburgh, Dundee and Aberdeen.

FareShare Glasgow is run by Move On, which also offers additional assistance in the form of employability training, mentoring and emotional support in Glasgow centres.

Last year was FareShare UK’s busiest year so far, supporting more than 6200 frontline charities nationally, and providing more than 28 million meals.

Giovanna Eusebi grew up in the east end of Glasgow, where her father ran the deli.

After his death, she and her brother Eddie took over the business and it recently moved premises to the west end of the city.

Giovanna said: “I’m delighted to once again to be partnering with FareShare to promote the fantastic work they do both within Glasgow and the rest of the country.

“With so many people going hungry right here in the city, we have to do everything we can to minimise food waste.

“The work that FareShare undertakes is so important and I’m delighted to be able to help launch this new campaign.

“It’s devastating to think how many young people are going to sleep hungry each night.”

She added: “It is vital that we raise as much awareness as we can about the valuable work being done to support local families.”

Giovanna cooked on board the Red Bus Bistro, a vintage dining-and-tour bus run by Alison Simpson.

FareShare Operations Director Jim Burns said: “To have Giovanna’s support with our campaign is fantastic.

“Her passion is food and coming from the east end of Glasgow herself, she understands the battle some families face during school holidays.”

He added: “I watch the food coming in and out of our depot daily and there is no logical reason as to why any child or family should be going hungry outwith school hours, or at any time.

“For Food Sake is about building a network between the community hubs and local charitable organisations - we want them to know that there is food available and to get in contact.

“We hope that FareShare’s Family Food Service continues to grow and helps to feed more and more families at a time when they most need it.”