Empty Kitchens, Full Hearts

An Edinburgh-based community organisation has provided over 50,000 people in Edinburgh with fresh meals since the COVID-19 pandemic took hold, causing many to experience food poverty first hand.

Empty Kitchens, Full Hearts, was founded as a direct response to the coronavirus crisis with the aim to provide local residents with safe access to healthy food.

The Leith-based organisation is run entirely by volunteers, including over 30 out-of-work chefs, and takes surplus foods which would otherwise to go waste to create packs to feed someone for a day. To date, over 15,000 kg of food has been saved and redistributed locally.

Food packs of breakfast, lunch and dinner are delivered directly to the doors of those in need while there are two daily hot food services on-site - “Lunchtime on Leith” - serving around 100 locals every day.

Hundreds of kitchens, empty. Thousands of chefs, 'redundant'. Tonnes of food rotting in warehouses. Millions forced to choose between risking infection or going hungry. EKFH are pro chefs, opening kitchens and turning surplus food into emergency meals.

What we do..

We turn surplus food into healthy meals for those who need them. Since April 2020, we've provided over a million meals free of charge.

We are a volunteer movement responding to the COVID-19 crisis.

We take food donations and convert them into breakfasts, lunches, dinners, and snacks. Community volunteers then package these meals into 'day packs' for delivery across Edinburgh.

Each and every meal is provided free of charge.