Charity kitchen calls for food donors

FareShare has appealed to Victorian food producers and businesses for food donations to meet the growing demand for cooked, ready-to-eat meals from charities.

FareShare operates Australia’s largest charity kitchen, cooking 5000 free, nutritious meals every day for the hungry, homeless and those doing it tough.

With any increase in production dependent on additional food donations, FareShare requires a constant supply of ingredients.

“We particularly need fresh vegetables, rice, pasta, pastry, dried lentils and chickpeas, and flour,” said FareShare’s general manager, Kellie Watson, who receives weekly requests for more food from welfare charities and enquiries from new charities.

A team of professional chefs oversees the production of all FareShare meals, which include curries, tagines, ragouts, pastas and a wide range of savoury pastries.

A FareShare quiche is designed to be a complete meal and is typically composed of up to a dozen ingredients provided by different donors, such as pastry (Boscastle, Goodman Fielder and Pastry Lounge), eggs (Kinross Farm), cheese (Fonterra), spinach and mushrooms (Woolworths) and tomatoes (D’Vine Ripe). 

“We can also accept products with damaged packaging, sample or bulk produce, discontinued lines and products that fall outside manufacturing specifications,” said Watson. “FareShare can deface products, issue donation-in-kind receipts and safely process food close to its use-by date.

“By donating to FareShare, businesses reduce costs associated with dumping, transport and administration and save waste going to landfill. They may also involve employees in corporate social responsibility by participating in FareShare’s volunteer program and undertaking half-day kitchen shifts in our custom-built facilities in Melbourne.”