Waste not, want not
Two clever Kiwis have found ways to ensure excess food gets into the right hands, writes
Twenty million loaves of bread, $15 million of cakes, 3400 tonnes of poultry, more than two million kilograms of takeaway chips . . . Every year in New Zealand we throw away $872 million worth of food – 122,547 tonnes – enough to feed more than 260,000 people, or the population of the Bay of Plenty, for a whole year.
According to an audit done in 2015 by Love Food Hate Waste, a three-year campaign run by WasteMINZ, every year the average household sends around 79kg of edible food to landfills, and avoidable food waste costs the average household $563 a year – yet at the same time there are families all around the country going hungry.
It’s a catch-22, and for a growing number of Kiwis, unacceptable. The disparity has driven individuals and organisations around New Zealand to take action in growing numbers, from companies that source and collect the food to those who distribute it.
And while many organisations mostly tackle large amounts of food waste, individuals like Amanda Chapman and David Cross have found ways to ensure smaller amounts of excess food can also find its way to those who need it.
In July 2015, Wellington-based Cross set up a Facebook group called Social Pantry, which aims ‘‘to help put food in the hands of those who need it most’’.
‘‘It started off as a simple idea where people who have too much can share with those who may not have enough,’’ says Cross.
‘‘It came about out of a frustration that I could see such abundance everywhere I went, but also such poverty. My wife and I decided we wanted to do something about it, so we were wrestling with different ideas on how to get food from those who have too much, and give it to those people who need it the most.’’
Facebook – with its huge reach – was the perfect medium.
‘‘The first few ideas were all app-based, but the reality is that while not everyone has a smartphone, almost everybody is on Facebook,’’ says Cross.
‘‘So we set up a group and shared it with our friends. After a couple of days someone gave away a bowl of almost expired fruit and it kicked off from there.
Cross says his interest in food waste began when he realised just how many perishable items were thrown out each week.
‘‘Even our family, on a very small budget, were throwing out unused fruits and vegetables and it got me thinking about the fact that there are people out there who would love to get their hands on some of it to help feed their families.
‘‘It’s staggering how much food is wasted in New Zealand. To think there are families in our community who are genuinely unable to feed themselves, or their children, while this much food is left to rot seems absolutely ridiculous to me.
‘‘My philosophy is that it’s your choice what you do with your own food, but if you’re not going to use it, why not help out someone in your community who’s struggling.’’
Social Pantry now has more than 3500 online members, and Cross says the response has been overwhelmingly positive.
‘‘People have been far more willing to give than I could have imagined, and it really showed me that there is a lot of love out there. People just need a way to share that love with others.
‘‘Because it’s based on Facebook, it’s near impossible to know how much food has been gifted this way, but I estimate at least 1500 parcels of food would have been gifted since its inception.
‘‘But I need to make it clear that I just created a Facebook group, and it’s our group members who are the real champions. They’re the ones gifting those 1500 food parcels to people.’’