Nearly 20 years ago (I know right….) my hospitality & foodie adventures began. From the fat fuelled days in the kitchens of McDonalds, into a cheffing apprenticeship that led to work in kitchens all over the globe, to hospitality sales & marketing and now event management. The one thing that has been an overarching theme all these years is food. And you all know just how obsessed I am with beautiful, magical, delicious (get in my belly) amazing food.
GORGEOUS!
AMAZING!
BEAUTIFUL!
Working in this industry, I certainly have seen my fair share of wastage, huge amounts of perfectly yummy food thrown out after a busy restaurant service or large scale event. An entire side of salmon, fillet of beef or kilos of risotto just dumped in the bin, which I reckon is THE most expensive item in a commercial kitchen.
Large scale event plate up
I remember asking senior chefs why we throw out the leftover food, and being told that it could not be used anymore, despite it being perfectly edible. I know for me, using up leftovers gives me a real sense of pride, feeling that I’ve been resourceful and thrifty. So the obvious food wastage was always a bugbear of mine.
Getting my Chef On!
In 2009 when Dave Burnet, OzHarvest Canberra Manager (& now family friend) presented at a Rotary luncheon about an organisation that specifically deals with leftover food generated by the hospitality and events industries, I knew it was an organisation I wanted to be a part of.
Photo by the AMAZING Anne Frisch – Dave Burnet, OzHarvest CEO signing the newly released OzHarvest cookbook
You see friends, OzHarvest rescues excess food that would otherwise be dumped in the trash and wasted, and distributes it to members of the community who are hungry and in need, turning that food into a resource and saving thousands of kilograms of food from being dumped as landfill each year too. Yep, this charity is without a doubt my favourite.
Check out just how much GOOD OzHarvest have done to date!
Imagine just how freakin special and honored I felt back in 2011 when Dave asked me to be the Australian Capital Territories 1st OzHarvest Ambassador?! #amazeballs
Being an OzHarvest Ambassador ROCKS!
Flying the OzHarvest flag being an MC at a fundraiser for 300 of the industries most respected, and showing just how easy it is to prepare delicious food at Floriade each year. #BOOM
‘Waste Not, Want Not‘ is my motto. What say you? Do you think about how you too can keep your food wastage down, and contribute leftover food to someone who might be hungry?
Photo by the AMAZING Anne Frisch – Speaking at the OzHarvest Think.Eat.Save Canberra event in July 2015
We are very fortunate as a community to have OzHarvest, an outstanding bunch of people with such huge hearts. Every one of those connected with this awesome cause believes that good food should not go to waste, and that we all have a role to play in helping vulnerable people in our communities.
Do you think that we waste too much food? And would you donate food, time or money to OzHarvest?