Overview
By addressing both food insecurity and deer overpopulation, Fair Feast is creating a sustainable and impactful solution for local communities in Scotland. They process surplus deer into nutrient-dense venison products, reducing waste while providing low-carbon, healthier, protein-rich food to food banks. Through strategic partnerships and innovative operations, Fair Feast is making a lasting difference in both community wellbeing and environmental conservation.
Food insecurity is a growing concern in Scotland, with many food banks struggling to provide nutritious meals. Often, food parcels contain highly processed items high in saturated fats, sugar, and sodium, contributing to poor health outcomes. Fair Feast aims to tackle this issue by providing a sustainable, long-term source of nutrient-dense venison to food banks, offering healthier alternatives to typical food bank supplies.
Meanwhile, in some parts of Scotland, deer numbers are overwhelming the natural environment, causing a range of ecological problems that landowners are legally required to address by managing deer populations. However, with limited supply chains to process surplus deer into food, most are disposed of or buried – wasting a valuable resource in the face of growing food insecurity.
Fair Feast has developed an innovative solution to both problems by turning surplus deer into high-quality venison products. Based near one of Scotland’s most deer-overpopulated areas, their on-site deer larder unit, complete with an inbuilt kitchen, allows them to efficiently butcher and package venison. The meat is then distributed to local food banks, where it is processed into sausages, meatballs, and stewing steak – meals that are both easy to prepare and nutritious.
While some venison cuts are sold to generate income to run the project, 70% of the meat is donated to food banks. Fair Feast has already established strong partnerships with local food banks and remains committed to providing consistent support. The £2,000 grant from John Good Group will help expand operations, including purchasing cool boxes for safe transportation and a meatball maker, enabling the production of more child-friendly meals.
We are humbled that you trust us to spend your money wisely and thank you for believing in what we are trying to achieve. Sometimes it is the smallest things that mean the most – the care packs, whilst such a small thing, can be just what a young person needs to help them find meaning and help them to start valuing their lives. From the bottom of our hearts: thank you
Joanna Garvey
