Rescued-food supermarket opens — take what you need, give if you can

The OzHarvest Market, Australia’s first ever ‘rescued food’ supermarket, has opened on the ground floor of the TOGA Addison Project in Kensington, Sydney.

The market aims to make rescued food and other goods available for everyone, especially those in need, by operating on a ‘take what you need, give if you can’ model.

Powered by volunteers, the market will be open weekdays from 10 am to 2 pm.

With increasing amounts of food being rescued by OzHarvest daily, CEO and founder Ronni Kahn believes the supermarket provides a new way to connect surplus food, which would otherwise go to landfill, with those who might not be reached through OzHarvest’s existing service.

The groundbreaking project is being tested by OzHarvest in Australia and has been made possible thanks to the donated retail space from TOGA while awaiting council approval on proposed developments. The transformed Addison Hotel on Anzac Parade now offers pop-up accommodation for vulnerable youth.

“There are lots of opportunities for people to get involved and give back to the local community, from volunteer hours in the market, stacking shelves and cleaning. We would love to see more OzHarvest Markets pop up as those in the industry are inspired by TOGA’s initiative,” said Kahn.

For more information and to get involved, go to ozharvest.org/market/.

Image credit: Fiona Nearn (OzHarvest).