| 7 T T Ange Davidson Diverting surplus food to those in need The food rescue organisation redistributed 2,098,000kg of food in the 2022 calendar year from its five branches around New Zealand. Grand Business South Awards: Kiwi Harvest REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT Within New Zealand’s food chain, it’s estimated that 105 million kilograms of food is sent to the landfill each year. As every kilogram of food breaks down it produces a staggering 2.65 kilograms of CO2, methane and other greenhouse gases. Sixty percent of that food is edible and could have been redistributed to people in need by organisations such as KiwiHarvest whose mission is to rescue good quality surplus food and divert this back to people who are struggling across New Zealand. KiwiHarvest CEO Angela Calver says the food rescue organisation redistributed 2,098,000 kilograms of food in the 2022 calendar year from its five branches around New Zealand. The Queenstown, Invercargill and Dunedin branches of Kiwi Harvest distributed 680,278 kilograms alone, which equates to 1.9 million meals. It was this mahi that earned the organisation the 2022 Grand Business South Award for Excellence In Not For Profit category. The registered charity is a depot and distribution centre for surplus food sourced by the New Zealand Food Network and other donors. KiwiHarvest redistributes this food to front line agencies in its area such as Women’s Refuge, homeless shelters and organisations that do food boxes in their local community. “We understand what our agencies need, and we drop good quality fresh and dry produce to them. As we arrive, an agency’s volunteers are there to help us unpack and we know that within three to four hours, the produce will be with a family. We can’t run KiwiHarvest without the help from volunteers and we are really grateful for their work,” says Angela. “Our volunteer base is twice that of our workforce, and we are always looking for more people to help as we’re planning to double the volume of food rescued in the next three years,” she says. KiwiHarvest is a local solution and distributes smaller amounts of food within short distances from its bases in Auckland and Southern South Island, whereas the New Zealand Food Network may source 150 pallets of food with misprinted labels and distribute this to around 60 food rescue organisations around the country. “We network with 270 donors and are always looking for more. We work with food businesses, including supermarkets, wholesalers, producers, and restaurants to rescue the good food they’re not able to sell. This could be from oversupply through to cancelled orders, or because the food is nearing its best before date,” she says. “All our recipient agencies are audited to ensure they have wrap around services such as budgeting, cooking skills, and counselling available so the food parcels are a hand up, not a hand out. We will also audit an agency’s food safety system.” With nearly 28% of children living in income poverty in a country that produces enough food for 40 million people, there’s plenty of food available for redistribution. Recent changes in legislation have made it easier to donate food to food rescue organisations but there is more work to be done. “We’re always advocating for changes to our national strategies, regulations and bylaws that will ensure food waste and food security is addressed by central and local government,” says Angela. Together, Rabobank and KiwiHarvest are helping make sure Kiwi families have enough food Kids should be hungry to learn, not hungry at school Growing a better New Zealand together For the past 3 years, we’ve teamed up with KiwiHarvest to help out on their mission to reduce the amount of good food that is wasted every day in New Zealand. Let’s make a di erence by ensuring that rescued food gets to our most vulnerable communities.
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