Fair Food NZ

We’re excited to make the #Next95 – a list of innovators and entrepreneurs paving the way for sustainable change in Aotearoa. We’re among 95 finalists from this year’s Sustainable Business Network awards alongside our friends Citizen Collective NZ , Again Again, Cleanery, New Zealand Food Waste Champions 12.3 Charitable Trust (NZFWC 12.3 Trust), and New Zealand Food Network. Thanks to our community who are audacious enough to believe a better world is possible. See you all there!

Ēhara tāku toa i te toa takatahi, engari he toa takitini. It's such a privilege to support our community through this role. I get to work alongside such passionate and committed individuals, and I’m grateful for the opportunity to contribute to our shared vision of service and meaningful impact in our communities.

Happy #LabourDay to #livingwage employers and the generous groups that power our mahi. 🥗Fair Food pays living wages because no one who works should ever need a #foodparcel. 💔Organisations like ours should not exist, but we’re in a growth industry. 🙏🏽Thank you to everyone who creates a better world with us each day. To those who prioritise need over greed.

We love being connected to the other food rescue orgs across the motu. Everyone’s got their own flavours, but together we’ve provided 20 million meals in the past year 💚👏🏽😍

If food waste were a country, it would be the third largest #greenhousegas emitter. Here in Auckland, it’s 18% of our consumption emissions and a quarter of our landfill emissions. Every day is #worldfoodday for Fair Food 😆. What are you eating to celebrate?

Food banks are closing 💔. Dave Letele is the highest profile person highlighting a frightening trend across our sector. Thank you for speaking up. Demand for food support is higher than ever 📈and funding is lower than ever 📉. A third of Kiwis have less than $500 in savings. Many of y’all reading this are feeling the squeeze, and I want you to know how much you are not alone. I get DM requests for food parcels constantly. Not a very #LinkedIn thing to admit ☺️, but a lot of the need is coming from people who work full time and still can’t outpace the #costofliving crisis. Food rescue is the most #sustainable and scalable solution, but we have to hustle for every dollar we get. Thank you to everyone who faces this stark reality with us and rises to the occasion. Times are tough, but our Fair Food NZ community is so much tougher. Pics are from #worldhomelessday event today sharing kai with a few of the 41,600 people in Aotearoa who are homeless not hopeless this evening.

Last week, the XP team had the incredible opportunity to volunteer with Fair Food NZ— what an experience! ❤️ What we achieved: 🥘 7,820 meals provided to families  🥕 Saved 2,787 kg's of fresh produce 🌍 Reduced carbon emissions by 7.2 tonnes 💪 3 hours of rewarding teamwork Fair Food is doing important work by rescuing surplus food and redistributing it to local communities, and we were so proud to be part of it. We highly recommend this experience to anyone looking to give back 🙌  Volunteering with Fair Food was a powerful reminder of the impact we can all have on our communities. Want to get involved? Visit Fair Food NZ's website to learn more 

I visited Fair Food NZ and their amazing CEO Michelle Blau a few weeks ago, as my garden was finally producing enough surplus that I had fruit and silverbeet to donate and I didn't want to turn up empty handed. The quote from Michelle that still sticks in my mind is: "In our community, hunger is getting in the way of people's healing" People are showing up at budgeting services, counselling services and social welfare agencies so hungry they can't really concentrate on the reason for their visit. So Fairfood not only gives food to traditional foodbanks, they also send the excess food from our stores to social service agencies so people can have a piece of fruit or something to eat before they go into their counselling session. I loved seeing their Conscious Kitchen in action where fruit and vegetables which are too blemished or too close to expiry to go in a food parcel are chopped up and turned into meals. These are then sent out to community groups and schools that don't qualify for the school lunch programme. They make over 1,000 meals per week from food that would otherwise be wasted. Fairfood also offers corporate teambuilding activities where you can pay to come along with your team and help get the donated food ready for distribution, with the money you pay helping them with the great work they do. So if you are having an upcoming team day or want to do something more meaningful for your work christmas function, I would highly recommend! Photo of Kim Mcleod one of the kitchen volunteers

Such a good day at Coco's Cantina celebrating our efforts to reduce #foodwaste. Thank you to everyone who chooses to give their time, money, and resources, so a teacher can pass along lunch to a kid who would otherwise not have one. To everyone who chops apples and pears, so people can have a snack before their counselling session.  To everyone who prepares produce and who cook in our Conscious Kitchen, so women enter a domestic violence shelter with a full fridge and something they can heat up right away.  You are healing our community one bite at a time. https://lnkd.in/gD2UwPip

It’s Manaaki Monday, the start of Mental Health Awareness Week #MHAWNZ! ✨ Today is all about kindness in action, and some of our Auckland team were privileged to spend the day supporting Fair Food NZ with their food sorting efforts. More than $3 Billion in food is wasted in NZ households. But thanks to Fair Food, instead of going to waste, this kai is now on its way to local families who need it, to the kitchen, or to the compost. We’re honoured to have played a small part in the incredible work Fair Food NZ does every day to make a difference 💚 If you did something for Manaaki Monday, leave a comment, we'd love to hear about what you got up to! Thank you Stefan van Staden, Alex Carter Richard Gavey, Claire Boyter, Kristien van Staden, and Danielle Binks for getting involved!