By Deborah Manning | Posted: Tuesday March 29, 2016
From small beginnings to distributing over 45,000 meals per month, FoodShare proudly celebrate their 1 Millionth rescued meal going back into the wider Dunedin community.
The entire team here at FoodShare are incredibly proud to be celebrating the distribution of our 1 Millionth rescued meal. Equating to over 370, 919 kg's of food that would have otherwise ended up in landfill, the milestone is a testament to the generosity and support of the wider Dunedin community.
Our mission at FoodShare is to deliver quality fresh food to charitable organisations to be passed on to local families and individuals in need. With 59 recipient agencies to date, we're proud to have helped a huge number of Dunedin families and individuals experiencing food insecurity to enjoy a broader range of healthy foods than usually possible by distributing both fresh fruit and vegetables alongside ready-made meals.
From humble beginnings producing 1,000 meals per month, to four years later having the capabilities to distribute over 45,000 meals, the massive growth of FoodShare would not have been possible without the generous support of local Dunedin businesses.
"Reaching the 1 million meal milestone in just four years is a real testament to the uniqueness of Dunedin's close-knit community and something that needs to be celebrated by us, and everyone who has made this possible. Dunedin should be very proud of being a community that takes a hard stance on both food waste and food insecurity. Our rapid growth is only made possible by the growing local support base of food suppliers, recipient agencies and individual volunteers."" - Deborah Manning CEO
A lot of Dunedin's food poverty is hidden behind closed doors and it's easy to underestimate the real extent to which local Dunedin families are struggling to get nutritious foods onto their plates. With over 120,000 tonnes of unnecessary fresh food waste going to landfill per year, we are proud to be helping reduce food poverty and our environmental footprint.
A big thanks to all our supporters, volunteers and donors for helping FoodShare deliver a mammoth 1 million meals back to our community.