More than 120 people learned about food loss and waste reduction at REAP Sapphire Coast’s free lunch and information session at Jigamy Farm on Monday.
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The Think.Eat.Save event saw celebrated local chef Paul West of River Cottage Australia and REAP volunteers work together to serve up a delicious vegetable curry made from rescued and donated food that would otherwise have gone to landfill.
Think.Eat.Save events run by OzHarvest were held across the country, but REAP Sapphire Coast was one of only two regional branches of OzHarvest to host an event.
The national events were part of a global campaign in partnership with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the UN’s Food Agriculture Organisation (FAO) Save Food Initiative “Global Initiative on Food Loss and Waste Reduction”, which launched in June this year at Parliament House in Canberra.
“The idea of the lunch was to help educate people on not only the importance of reducing food waste but also to educate them on how they can do this on a personal level,” REAP Sapphire Coast co-ordinator Christine Welsh said.
“REAP Sapphire Coast works to eliminate food waste from local businesses and restaurants and to pass on the food to those in need but individuals and families waste incredible amounts of food each year as well as.
“In Australia it's estimated that one in five bags of groceries the average family buys ends up in landfill. That's over $10 billion worth of food just thrown away.”
The event included a panel of speakers who addressed different ways in which individuals and businesses could minimise food wastage and be more sustainable.
Speakers included event organiser Christine Welsh, chef Paul West, owner of Sprout Eden, Karen Lott, the group manager of environment and sustainability at Bega Cheese, Elvis Amair, and Dr Mike Kelly.
Attendees were encouraged to get involved by making a personal pledge to reduce food waste.
“We want people to think about what they are buying and eating; to eat what they have bought; and to save food from landfill,” Ms Welsh said.
Pledges can be made online atwww.thinkeatsave.ozharvest.org/ or via social media by posting an image of an ‘X’ made from utensils or food items to represent the end of food waste along with the hashtag #thinkeatsave.
