Food waste is currently costing Australians up to $10 billion each year, while two million people still rely on food relief. [Oz Harvest]
Standing next to the big tented kitchen and my stomach is grumbling. The smell coming out of it is incredible. Both in what it’s doing to my taste buds and also with the thought- that all those meals that are being created in there? Well, if it wasn’t for Oz Harvest, there would be no amazing tantalising lunches being handed out today and instead all that food would have gone simply into landfill. A sobering thought, that’s for sure.
“Think.Eat.Save 2015 is to bring attention to the alarming amount of food wasted in Australia and around the world, where roughly one third of food produced for human consumption (approx. 1.3 billion tonnes) is wasted or lost along the way.” [ozharvest.com]
Monday morning saw me grabbing my camera and spending a part of the day with the wonderful people connected with Oz Harvest. The national Think Eat Save campaign was launched across ten cities around Australia, in conjunction with the United Nations- (UNEP and FAO) Oz Harvest is doing an incredible job in raising awareness for global food loss and waste reduction.
Oz Harvest is a company that collects good quality perishable food (that would otherwise be discarded and end up in land fill) from a variety of different outlets. They then deliver it to a number of charities around the country. 600+ charities to be exact, that’s some amazing work right there.
But back to Monday’s Think Eat Save campaign.
“Thousands of members of the public across capital cities will be served a free hot meal including surplus soup and rescued stews made from produce that would have otherwise ended up as landfill.” [ozharvest]
Getting more people to rethink food sustainability and security on a local level is something that should be on everyone’s thoughts. Why? Because this effects everyone, on everyone level, at every generation. We should be taking ownership of the waste that we produce. And food waste? It’s a big one that really needs a big reshuffle in this country.
So what did I take away from the campaign? Well a renewed sense of, ‘we really need to do better’ that’s for sure. Rethinking what we put into our shopping trolleys, the food we create for our families dinners and what exactly we are putting into our garbages. I was also blown away by the energy of the volunteers and wonderful people wanting to do more and say more about this issue…it’s really important stuff!
I’ve certainly got more to say, but will keep it for another post. To be continued, and in the mean time? Rethink what you are putting in the bin, it could be part of that $10 billion.
*********************
Insta Lovers- Heads Up: Now if you are keen on sharing your delicious Sunday breakfast (or any other meal) with your teams of followers on Instagram, keep on reading. Oz Harvest and Virgin Mobile have teamed up for the #mealforameal hashtag. You take a pic of your meal (any meal), tag it and Virgin Mobile turns that into a real meal for someone in need. That’s a winner right there, so get snapping people.
Helpful links with more info
cityhippyfarmgirl 