Project delivering free food to kids attracts council as partner
A FORMER city restaurateur who embarked on a mission to feed Glasgow’s schoolchildren is on track to feed his 7,500th child next week.
Craig Johnson went into action after he got frustrated hearing reports of food being thrown away while children in the city went hungry.
As the man behind the former Loop restaurants on Bath Street and Ingram Street, he rallied a chef and the help of an unlikely team, such as his sister-in-law and a young student, to get his plan off the ground.
During the Easter holidays the team managed to provide meals for around 2,000 children.
And, thanks to a partnership with charity Achieve More Scotland and a Skyparkdonated kitchen, the newly formed Launch Foods travelled to summer clubs across Glasgow to feed another 7,500 kids.
Craig told the Evening Times: “I’m really sad Glasgow is in this situation where the need is there.
“As a proud Glaswegian, it makes me sad.
“There’s kids we all will know along your street or your relatives’ street and we try to shut it out and get on with our lives but we can’t.
“It’s fantastic the work we do in other countries but we can’t forget our own. We can’t have kids going hungry in this city.”
To allow the project to take off, Skypark donated space, financial support and a vehicle to turn around a working kitchen in a week.
Launch Foods, a not-forprofit enterprise, preps 350 free children’s meals every day and loads up its truck to travel to the city’s worst-off areas.
But Craig, who hails from Whiteinch and now resides in Newton Mearns, hopes he won’t be needed for long.
He said: “It’s been lovely because everyone seems to pull together to make it happen.
“But I know this isn’t a long-term solution.
“I don’t want Launch to exist. It shouldn’t exist.
“The problem needs to be solved.”
He added: “I lived in Spain for a few years and when I came back to Glasgow I couldn’t believe it.
“I know what an empty fridge looks like and I just thought in this day and age this has to stop.
“It’s not just the povertystricken areas of Glasgow that are struggling.
“There are people just trying to pay their mortgage never mind food.”
Launch aims to provide meals for youngsters in a fun way and without the stigma often felt at foodbanks.
Children are encouraged to get involved in the cooking process and explore the truck used to deliver the products to schools.
It has proved to be such a success that Craig’s team are to partner up with Glasgow City Council in the coming school term to bring the service to five schools throughout the East End – and they’re keen to see it continue to grow.
A council spokeswoman said: “This is a partnership we are keen to see develop as the council is committed to working with a variety of organisations to help tackle food poverty in our city.”