The social enterprise which supports the initiative, Fair Food, has also called for Kiwis with citrus fruit trees on their property to pick surplus fruit to donate to those in need.
Fair Food supplies over 50 local community groups with over 2.4 million meals per year has also opened a ‘Conscious Kitchen’ to teach community members the principles of upcycling food.
Around a third of all food produced globally is wasted, however staff at Fair Food receive and hand-sort around a tonne of discarded food each day – which is provided by supermarkets, growers and manufacturers.
The surplus produce would otherwise be destined for landfill, generating an estimated 540 tonnes of greenhouse gases annually.
Deborah McLaughlin, chief financial officer at Fair Food, says the poverty gap is widening, with pandemic-driven food shortages, inflation and winter heating costs all impacting already vulnerable families.
She says approximately 40% of Kiwi households experience food insecurity and 19% of New Zealand children live in homes where consistency of food supply is a concern.
“I know one woman recently had to stop her children’s sporting activities over the weekend because it became a choice between paying for the petrol to get them there or buying groceries. I have heard of others having to go without heat. No one should have to be in this position,” she says.
Allan Pollard, chief executive of The Trusts, a local social enterprise which has provided financial support for the distribution of the meals, says winter, along with Christmas and back to school, are the months with the highest levels of need.
“Thousands of whanau in our communities are facing the perfect storm of seasonal cost pressures for thousands of members of our community,” he says.
“It is critical that organisations like Fair Food be given the support of corporates to allow them to continue their work during peak seasons of need.
“We also want to encourage those who have surplus fruit growing on their trees to pick and donate this to a local food charity – rather than let it go to waste rotting on the ground,” he says.
Pollard says currently citrus fruits such as oranges, lemons and mandarins are in season and food rescue charities like Fair Food can often collect the produce from those willing to pick it.
