A Kingston Vale man has gained hundreds of supporters in a call for all supermarkets to donate all their food unsold by its sell-by date to foodbanks instead.

John Hewlett has volunteered with Save the World Club since March 2020 and the start of Covid-19 proper in the UK, and was inspired by their efforts directing food and other essentials to those who most need it.

As the Surrey Comet reported previously, the group worked with Aldi in New Malden to donate and supply tens of thousands of meals to those who most needed it during the first wave of the pandemic.

John hopes to now take that common-sense re-routing of resources to the national level with a petition that calls on the government to mandate the donation of supermarket food that cannot be sold to foodbanks in the UK.

"Recently the food being given us was reduced to not include meat and chilled goods according to legal restrictions.

"This meant I personally now see trolley loads of good meat and chilled food being wasted that over the past year I was able to collect and deliver to feed vulnerable people," John said, describing his inspiration for the petition.

"Seeing this food literally being binned is heart-breaking and made me realise that there needs to be a change in the legislation regarding good food being wasted/destroyed," he added.

John's view on the amount of food wasted by a supermarket was likely shocking but a drop in the ocean compared to the situation at the national level.

According to a recent report by The Indepedent, British supermarkets are throwing away the equivalent of 190 million meals a year that could be given to the hungry, and only donating nine per cent.

John and the Save the World Club's petition to challenge this is simple in its conception, and reflects a number of similar calls heard in recent years that demand food waste from UK supermarkets be appropriated to combat hunger.

In essence, it demands supermarkets donate all food past its Sell-by-Date to charities involved in distributing food to people in need.

Indeed, the campaign reflects an existing piece of legislation in France, signed in 2016, that obligates supermarkets to do just that.

"If this were to happen hunger in the UK could be literally eliminated," John said.

Surrey Comet: Save the World Club Save the World Club

His campaign could not be more timely with a huge surge in the number of people relying on foodbanks to avoid hunger in the UK.

The Trussel Trust notes that over last year, a record 2.5 million emergency food parcels were distributed to people in crisis by food banks in the group's network.

That was a 33 pere cent increase on the previous year and a "devastating" 128 per cent increase on the same period five years ago (2015/16).

"Observing the appreciation and relief shown by the recipients made me more aware that those in need are often working people whose salary simply does not cover the costs of their housing, utilities etc.," John said.

"Food deprivation follows, leading to ill health, mental stress, marital issues etc. Having food on the table on a daily basis can and does solve many associated problems," he added.

Click here to check out the petition.