![]() ![]() Tom Sawkins, National Operations Manager, OzHarvest The new vehicle will be a much-needed “mobile office” allowing Belinda and her team to expand community engagement efforts.“We have 24 vehicles across Australia and you can't run a business nowadays without this type of technology" Geocon has also gifted a ute to OzHarvest, taking its tiny fleet to three. “I felt a sense of pride in what we had achieved to assist community groups and eliminate food waste. “OzHarvest made me feel welcome from the get-go, they set clear expectations and the itinerary meant everything ran smoothly. A lot of community groups were able to benefit from it instead,” he says. “It was a real eye-opener to see the amount and quality of food that would otherwise go to waste if it weren’t for OzHarvest. He describes his day driving an OzHarvest van as illuminating. Geocon development accountant Ed Bushell recently participated in his workplace community engagement program, which supports OzHarvest among its charities. Geocon managing director Nick Georgalis hands the key over to OzHarvest’s Belinda Barnier. “The kids also go home and pass their learnings onto their parents, so food management improves in the home.” “What’s more, we find the teacher becomes a co-learner with the students. “The teachers are buoyed and the students adore it,” she says. Teaching children valuable life skills to better manage food and nutrition is “a lot of fun” according to Belinda – and not just for the kids. The six-week teacher-led program is held in classrooms aligned to the Australian curriculum in STEM learning areas. ![]() ![]() Currently 18 ACT schools are enrolled in the Feast program. In Canberra, much of the focus is on education. But the organisation’s approach to diverting food from landfills is multi-pronged. OzHarvest is perhaps best known for its distinctive yellow vans on the frontlines, picking up as much delicious food as possible and delivering it to food charities which redistribute it to people who need it. READ ALSO ‘A very difficult place to be poor’: collaboration key to drive Canberra’s food relief success “Our goal is to save nourishing food from going to landfill and ensure people in need get fed.” “We’re all challenged in many different ways at the moment, but nourishment remains pivotal to the health and wellbeing of all people. “The effects of inflation and the rise in the cost of living are pretty sad to see – it’s actually scary to uncover some of it,” Belinda says. “Plan your meals, write a list, extend the dishes you do make to use your leftovers, be resourceful, make stock … there are several very simple mitigating actions we can all take.”Ĭanberra’s OzHarvest team comprises a permanent staff base of three and a volunteer body of up to 40 – and they are needed now more than ever. “That’s $30 a week or a bag of groceries – per household! “If we ate what we purchased and didn’t send it to landfill that’s an after-tax pay rise of $1500 per household,” she says. OzHarvest Canberra City manager Belinda Barnier says as horrifying as this data is, it’s worse when she considers how much money households can save and how simple it is to avoid this waste. Photo: Geocon.Īs inflation soars and the cost of living rises, here’s a sobering statistic: one fifth of the food purchased in Australia ends up in landfill. James Briguglio from OzHarvest and volunteer Ed Bushell from Geocon. Ozharvest couldn’t do what it does without volunteers.
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