OzHarvest Supermarket, Kensington

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Posted 2017-05-15 by Sue Hinchey ⇒ follow

Since its beginnings in 2004, 63 million meals have been delivered, 963 charities have benefitted and 21,000 tonnes of food has been saved from going into landfill. Operating in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide, Canberra, Newcastle and Perth, OzHarvest is the only organisation in Australia rescuing food from hotels, restaurants, boardrooms, farmers, catering companies, cafes and shopping centres and delivering it to those who need it most.

The Founder, Ronni Kahn, developed four pillars on which the organisation operates:
Rescue - to redistribute quality surplus food.
Educate - raising awareness about food waste, sustainability, and promoting nutrition education as fundamentals.
Engage - provide a range of opportunities for community to get involved - adding purpose through meaningful action.
Innovate - find new ways to combat food waste and hunger.

With the motto 'Take What You Need, Give If You Can', OzHarvest recently opened its first Rescued-Food Supermarket - the first of its kind in Australia. Based in Kensington, Sydney, the market aims to make rescued food available to anyone who needs it. Food that would otherwise go to landfill now has a greater chance of reaching those in need.

Currently powered by volunteers, the audacious and inspiring project encourages everyone to get involved. Give what you can in time or skills - pack shelves or clean, and help feed the nation.

How To Get Involved
Donate Food - if you or your company are holding an event and have excess food, click here to find out how to donate.
Donate Time - OzHarvest runs Cooking for a Cause, a hands-on cooking class where workplace teams learn how to transform rescued food into restaurant-quality meals, which are then delivered to disadvantaged communities. Chop an onion, make a pot of soup and share it with those less fortunate. To find out how to get involved, click here .
PledgeAPlate Campaign - instigate Leftover Lunches, Surplus Soup or Zero Waste Wednesdays as a fun way to fight food waste in the office. For more information, click here .

In March this year, OzHarvest was exported to the UK. Jamie Oliver has partnered with UKHarvest as part of his Food Revolution to educate and facilitate food education and make inroads into eliminating food waste.

A simple idea, an ingenious plan and a revolutionary and transformative organisation that deserves all the help it can get. As the cold weather settles in, I'm humbled by people like Ronni and thank my lucky stars I'm so fortunate to have a roof over my head and a bowl of hot homemade soup in my hands.