Unwilling to accept the gap between waste and hunger in London, Western University students have launched a "food rescue."

They just need a little help from Londoners willing to be volunteer drivers.

The plan for the venture, called reHarvest, is to intercept garbage-bound groceries from participating local businesses and get them into the homes of people living in poverty.

"We read an article about food waste and heard 30 to 40 per cent of food is being wasted and it is such a crazy number," said Amy Wang, co-organizer of reHarvest. "You hear so much about hunger in the city. We were so shocked by that.

"Our idea is to transport food that would've been thrown out -- like food that is really ripe and couldn't be sold at grocery stores and day-old baked goods."

According to the National Zero Waste Council, developed nations throw away 40 per cent of all food. The food itself is often times still edible.

Meanwhile, recent statistics from London's Poverty Research Centre at King's University College show 35,000 people in the London area are living in extreme poverty.

For an individual, that means living on an annual income of less than $11,000, and for a lone parent it means about $19,000.

Food insecurity is defined as not having reliable access to a sufficient quantity of affordable, nutritious food.

ReHarvest aims to benefit organizations that help people who have not been receiving food donations.

"We are really excited by the fact that young university students have the passion and the drive to put efforts toward a social justice program," said Shelly Happy of the London InterCommunity Health Centre, which will be a recipient of reHarvest and plans to use the donation in its health and housing program.

"Food security and issues around our food system has always been a priority. We saw an exciting potential for the new initiative to support getting food into the hands of more people who might have barriers to accessing healthy food options."

The health and housing program includes skills workshops in four London apartment complexes on how to prepare and store foods and "how to stretch the food dollar," Happy said.

"We are looking at populations where we've identified that people absolutely would benefit from access to food and skill development around food preparation and food storage and unique ways to use things," she said.

jlobrien@postmedia.com

For more information about reHarvestor to volunteer as a delivery driver -- a once-weekly commitment -- go to the website at www.reharvest.ca or email foodrescuelondon@gmail.com.

Participating businesses:

Grocery Checkout, Western Fair Farmers’ Market, Masonville Farmers’ Market, Old East Village Grocer, La Noisette, Village Bakery, and Havaris Produce.

Recipients:

London InterCommunity Health Centre and South London Neighbourhood Resource Centre.