Fruit and vegetable company Oddbox has already rescued 87 tonnes of surplus pumpkins and squash from British farms – a 163 per cent increase on last year.
The firm, which works with growers from the South Coast to Lincolnshire, is encouraging the public to make use of the excess supply by cooking with pumpkins rather than simply using them for decoration.
Gavin Phelps, Head of Sourcing at Oddbox, said: “Growers work all year to bring these crops to life, and seeing them go to waste because they’re the wrong size – or there’s simply too many – is heartbreaking. We’re rescuing as many as we can, big, small and everything in between.”
Oddbox is calling on families, cafés, restaurants and community kitchens to buy British and help turn the glut into a celebration of local produce.
Since launching, the company has saved more than 57,000 tonnes of fruit and vegetables from going to waste – the equivalent of 136 million meals.
Local residents are being encouraged to save the flesh of carved pumpkins for soups, pastas and roasts, and to toast the seeds for snacks.
Lotmead Farm in Wanborough has opened its fields for families to pick their own pumpkins right on Swindon’s doorstep, while Roves Farm in Sevenhampton combines pumpkin picking with hands-on Halloween fun and animal encounters.
Just down the road, Jolly Nice Farm Shop near Stroud is offering a more traditional, family-run experience with hay bales, scarecrows, and wheelbarrows for little ones.
Together, these farms are proving that the best way to fight food waste is to get out, pick local, and turn this year’s bumper harvest into warming soups, curries, and autumn feasts.
