Waiwaste to rescue food for hungry

Julie Brunton, Waiwaste committee member

New food rescue group Waiwaste has been launched to help turn edible waste from Masterton food retailers into meals for the hungry.

Waiwaste is a group of Masterton residents, formed under the umbrella of the Wairarapa Resource Centre, who have received funding from Masterton District Council to research how much food rescue takes place in the town, and what may be preventing greater participation in food rescue by businesses and community groups in the region, says Waiwaste committee member, Julie Brunton.

Ms Brunton said food rescue involves collecting and distributing food "that is good enough to eat but not good enough to sell".

Stuart McKay from Wairarapa-based consultancy firm, Sustainable Communities Ltd, will conduct the Waiwaste survey over coming weeks to gauge the interest in food rescue of Masterton food retailers and community groups.

"We suspect there is already a lot going on in this space already - we want to find out more about what's already being done and how it can be done even better," she said.

Ms Brunton said talks with prospective rescue food suppliers had centred on whether health regulations allowed food donations.

Masterton District Council environmental health officers and New Zealand Food Standards Agency guidelines were checked, she said, and it was found food could be donated legally after the best before date had expired "so long as it is fit to eat".

Kaibosh is a Wellington-based organisation that has been successfully involved in food rescue for several years.

Kaibosh collaborates with food retailers and producers to rescue surplus food that's good enough to eat, but not good enough to sell, and prevents it from being discarded into landfills. Rescue food is redistributed to community groups who work with individuals and families.

Some charities use Kaibosh rescued food for food parcels, Ms Brunton said, while others run soup kitchens.

The UN Food and Agriculture Organisation found a third of all food produced worldwide, or 1.3 billion tonnes worth $887b, is discarded each year.

Much of the food is from households, although food rescue from food retailers was an opportunity to help people in need, while also reducing waste to landfills, Ms Brunton said.