Australia’s leading food rescue organisation, OzHarvest fed more than ten thousand people across Sydney, Adelaide, Brisbane, Canberra, Gold Coast, Melbourne, Newcastle and Perth yesterday at Think.Eat.Save events held simultaneously across the country, a collaboration with the United Nations to tackle the issues of food loss and waste, food security and sustainable food systems.

Taking place at Martin Place in Sydney, St Stephen’s Cathederal in Brisbane, Federation Square in Melbourne, The University of Adelaide, Garema Place in Canberra, The 4217 in the Gold Coast, Forrest Place in Perth, Hunter St Mall in Newcastle, as well as Sapphire Coast and Port Macquarie, the events were a collaboration with the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) and the UN’s Food Agriculture Organisation (FAO) Global Initiative on Food Loss and Waste Reduction (SAVE FOOD).

Some of the nation’s top chefs including Neil Perry, Matt Moran, Peter Gilmore, Guillaume Brahimi, Somer Sivrioglu, Giovanni Pilu, Maeve O’Meara and Hamish Ingham, internationally acclaimed chef Diego Muñoz, as well as mayors, senators, MPs and celebrities united at the events to take a stance against food waste by serving members of the public a free, delicious and hearty hot meal made from surplus produce that would have otherwise ended up as landfill.

Food waste is currently costing Australians up to $10 billion each year, while two million people still rely on food relief.

Founder and CEO of OzHarvest, Ronni Kahn said the aim of Think.Eat.Save 2015 was to bring attention to the disturbing amount of food wasted in Australia and around the world, where roughly one third of food produced for human consumption (approx. 1.3 billion tonnes) gets wasted and lost[1] along the way.

“Our modern day challenge is to create a sustainable food culture that can be shared and accessed by all and where less is wasted at all levels of food production, distribution and consumption,” Kahn said.

“The amount of support that we saw at Think.Eat.Save events across 10 locations around Australia yesterday proves that food waste and food security are issues that Australians care about. Beyond the event, each and every one of us should continue to consciously reduce food waste, both at home, at work or in our businesses and strive to affect change and positively impact our planet.”

Diego Muñoz, Head Chef of Astrid y Gastón, Lima Peru – recently voted #14 Best Restaurant in the World, who is in Australia exclusively for OzHarvest fundraising events until August 3, also participated in a panel discussion around food waste and food sustainability.

“What I found surprising when I went out on the van with OzHarvest to collect and deliver food, was the high quality of the produce that was going to be wasted. Instead OzHarvest was rescuing this food and providing it to people who need it, essentially giving this food another life and making people happy at the same time. It really touched me. Ronni Kahn and her team have created something brilliant, it just makes sense and it’s why I truly support the vision and this cause.”

For more information on OzHarvest or upcoming events featuring Diego Muñoz, please visit www.ozharvest.org

Follow us on Instagram, Twitter @OzHarvest or Facebook or call 1800 108 006

Social media tags: #ozharvest #thinkeatsave @UNEP #SaveFood #UNFAO #FoodWaste @FAOKnowledge @FAOnews @save_food_news @NSW_EPA #LFHW

Thanks to Sydney Event Partners: NSW EPA, Virgin Mobile, Wild Foodies, Sydney Markets, ERM

See our full list of National Supporters here

View our Photo Collection from the events here

For more media information, images or interviews with Ronni Kahn, Founder and CEO of OzHarvest or Diego Muñoz, please contact:

Louise Tran at OzHarvest on [email protected] | +61 2 9516 3877 | +61 466 620 744

Meaghan Kemeny at Liquid Ideas on [email protected] | +61 2 9667 4211 | +61 413 858 818

[1] FAO, 2011, Global food losses and food waste – Extent, causes and prevention, Rome. Food loss (FL): The decrease in quantity or quality of food. FL is mainly caused by the functioning of the food production and supply system or its institutional and legal framework. An important part of food loss is called food waste (FW) which refers to the removal from the supply chain of food which is fit for consumption by choice or has been left to spoil or expire as a result of negligence – predominantly but not exclusively the final consumer at household level. Source: FAO 2014