When Covid-19 hit in 2020, demand for food relief hit an all-time high. Following bushfires, drought and then a pandemic, more people than ever were turning to charities for support, many for the very first time.
With the support of government grant funding, OzHarvest responded quickly, introducing new emergency food relief programs to support vulnerable communities in both metro and regional Australia.
The OzHarvest Mobile Market started in May 2020 to support regional towns in NSW most affected by drought, bushfires and lockdowns, providing fresh produce and dry goods delivered by our friendly team.
Over 920 pop-up markets, serving up to 500 people a week have provided over 50,000 hampers of good food to communities in need. The mobile markets provide an important opportunity for communities to reconnect to each other, and access other support services.
With a model that focuses on purchasing food directly from local suppliers, the mobile markets add economic benefit to each town they visit. As an emergency food relief program, OzHarvest relies on funding to purchase food and cover the logistics costs.
The concept of purchasing food for food relief is new to OzHarvest. The original OzHarvest food rescue model that underpins the business is built on the premise that food is donated, collected and delivered for free.
OzHarvest is looking to expand our food donor network to help diversify our supply chain, increase the amount of fresh produce in our network, and turn funding-reliant food relief into more sustainable programs using rescued food.
While the majority of OzHarvest rescued food comes from the retail and hospitality sector, OzHarvest is looking to explore opportunities to access surplus fresh produce along the pre-retail supply chain, looking to connect with primary producers with available surplus, second or third grade produce.
OzHarvest is committed to halving food waste by 2030, and we know a whole sector response is needed to achieve the national target. While OzHarvest already rescues 11,000 tonnes of food a year, there’s an opportunity to collect a lot more and address the rising number of people and communities experiencing food insecurity.
Building connections with primary producers and growers in regional areas could also enable OzHarvest to increase support for food relief in regional areas, using logistics partnerships and a collaborative approach to connect supply and demand more efficiently across the country.
What is OzHarvest looking for? Fresh produce, which is otherwise going to waste, that is still fit for human consumption. Specifically, staples are best (onions, carrots, potatoes, tomatoes, apples, oranges etc). Through logistics partnerships, OzHarvest can collect and transport the food and use our network of charities and different food programs to distribute it.
To donate, or talk with OzHarvest further, info@ozharvest.org or call (02) 9516 3877.