Students in Lincoln are turning to food waste apps to help them afford meals amid the ongoing cost-of-living crisis, LSJ News can reveal.
Online tools like the Too To Good To Go platform – which directs people to cafes and shops selling leftover food at highly reduced prices – are being used by young people in the city to help bring down their outgoings.
The app, which was first founded in Denmark, has been praised for helping restaurants, bakeries and supermarkets reduce their food waste by giving them a way to cheaply sell food which would otherwise be thrown away.
Outlets including Pizza Hut and Harvester use the tool, as do shops like the Co-Op.
But the fact it is being regularly used by students could be seen as a sign of growing economic pressures on them.
Daisy McDonald, a third year at the University of Lincoln, said: “Before this, I struggled to afford a proper food shop especially at the end of the month and after paying for my accommodation.”
“At the start of university, I was living on soup most days but the food bags have helped me to eat proper meals and stay healthy. It’s helped me save money and get good portions.”
Recent National Union of Students reports provide insights into how financial pressures are shaping student life, with 14 per cent of of students admitting to having accessed a food bank during their studies.
Users of the Too Good To Go platform in Lincoln can often buy meals that would be worth more than £15 for as little as £3.
One business which uses the app said it often sells out of its leftover stock within minutes of its listing going live.
Grace Smith, 20, another student who uses the platform said: “I honestly don’t know how I’s manage without it. I use it twice a week and then have leftover food for other days.
“Being a student is expensive so every little helps. Now, all my course mates have started using it too after I told them about it.”
