King Charles celebrates 75th birthday by launching new food project

King Charles III’s shakes hands with a guest as he attends his 75th birthday party hosted by the Prince’s Foundation at Highgrove House on November 13, 2023 in Tetbury, England. Guests include local residents who have been nominated by friends and family and individuals and organisations also turning 75 in 2023. Chris Jackson/Pool via REUTERS

LONDON — Britain’s King Charles celebrates his 75th birthday on Tuesday and will use the occasion to launch a new scheme to tackle food poverty and cut down on waste.

The king, who has spent more than five decades as an outspoken campaigner on environmental issues and supporter of a sustainable economy, will officially launch the ‘Coronation Food Project’, his mission to try to stop people going hungry.

“Food need is as real and urgent a problem as food waste – and if a way could be found to bridge the gap between them, then it would address two problems in one,” Charles wrote in an article for the “Big Issue”, a magazine which is usually sold by homeless people.

“It is my great hope that this Coronation Food Project will find practical ways to do just that – rescuing more surplus food, and distributing it to those who need it most.”

With his wife, Queen Camilla, Charles will spend his birthday visiting a surplus food distribution centre. He will meet major British supermarkets to see how his project can help redistribute food which would otherwise go to waste.

The project says 14 million people in Britain face food insecurity, and as the rising cost of living has pushed even more into food poverty, charities say there has been a 38% rise in those using food banks for the first time in the year to March 2023.

The king, who held a celebratory event for other individuals and organizations also turning 75 on Monday, will also host a reception on Tuesday to herald the work of nurses and midwives, part of the events marking 75 years of the National Health Service.