If you walked past a field in Oxfordshire this autumn, you might have seen something heartbreaking: rows of perfectly good vegetables left to rot in the mud. It happens every year. In fact, 3.3 million tonnes of food are wasted annually on UK farms.

At the same time, over 9 million people in the UK are experiencing food insecurity – a staggering irony.

Recognising the urgent need to address this disconnect, Good Food Oxfordshire, Cherwell Collective, and Oxford Food Hub joined forces to launch OxPlenty – a partnership with a simple mission: rescue food from fields, process it so it lasts, and get it to the people in Oxfordshire who need it most.

Now that our pilot year has wrapped up, we wanted to share not just the successes, but the real, messy, human story of what it takes to turn surplus into sustenance.

The Pilot: Apples, Pumpkins, and a Lot of Learning 

We started with a goal to prove that this ‘circular approach’ could actually work and discussion between GFO, Oxford Food Hub and Cherwell Collective began at the start of the year. We all work in tackling food waste in unique ways and we wanted to do something different but addressing the same issue: farm waste that is local and nutrient-dense but rarely donated to foodbanks (and if so, it isn’t fit for purpose by either being too far gone, too time-consuming/difficult to process and/or not an ingredient people are familiar with).  

First, came the apples. We managed to rescue 1,540 apples between September and October. OxPlenty partnered with Oxford Farmhouse CIC to turn the surplus fruit into 209 bottles of pasteurised juice, and we even held a free community pressing day at the Harcourt Arboretum. It was a beautiful start, but it taught us our first lesson: processing costs money. We didn’t feel paying upfront for industrial juicing and pasteurising was the best use of our limited collective budget to test the pilot. So, we want to extend our thanks to Oxford Farmhouse CIC for taking on the apples and for handling this important trial for us.  

Then, came the pumpkins... Thanks to our friends at local farms, we rescued 1.5 tonnes of pumpkins. These weren’t the little ones you put on your porch; some of them were absolute giants. This is where the logistical expertise of Oxford Food Hub shone. They were able to strategically collect and transport gourds of varying sizes and weights to our fantastic processing partner, Cherwell Collective. 

The team at Cherwell Collective spent nearly 24 hours of cooking time processing them by roasting them whole (or halved and quartered, depending on the size!). We found out the hard way that when you only have domestic-style ovens, a giant pumpkin is a formidable opponent. It was hot, hard work and completely down to the incredible volunteers at Cherwell Collective who dealt with the tiring and messy task of peeling hot pumpkins and getting them bagged, labeled and frozen. 

But the result? An impressive 427 bags of nutritious, frozen pumpkin purée ready to use by community members. It might just look like a bag of orange mash, but that purée represents a nutritious ingredient perfect for adding to a meal for someone who might otherwise go without. Unlike fresh veg that goes off in a few days, this food lasts much longer and can sit in the freezer, ready when it’s needed. 

The feedback from local charities was incredible. They didn’t just want the pumpkins; they specifically wanted the purée. It’s easier to cook with, nutritious, and fills a massive gap in food bank supplies, which are often heavy on dry/canned goods but light on fresher ingredients. 

Looking to the Future 

We are proud of what we achieved. We rescued food, we cut emissions, and our social media campaigns reached over tens of thousands of people in Oxfordshire. But to hit our next goal of rescuing even more produce next year we need help to level up. 

The pilot taught us that passion alone doesn’t peel pumpkins or juice apples. We need:

• An industrial oven: To process food in bulk, reduce energy costs per batch, and stop relying on domestic ovens.
• A sustainable volunteer model: More hands, more engagement, and more fun – ideally with a wider variety of produce and processing locations.
• Community support: Whether you donate or volunteer, we need people who care about food, climate, and community resilience.

OxPlenty is about more than just rescuing food; it’s about people coming together to solve problems creatively. It’s about learning that sometimes the bags leak, sometimes ovens fail, and we could always do more ‘next time’, but the effort was certainly worth it. 

• Volunteer: Come help us harvest, drop-off, and process. 
• Donate: Help us build the capacity we need to feed thousands. 
• Follow: Search #OxPlenty to see what we’re up to next.