Eateries help feed needy

Restaurateurs have thrown their support behind a food rescue organisation that will redistribute perishable ingredients to charities and help feed struggling Perth families.

OzHarvest has helped communities in other States for the past decade and has been given funding support to set up a WA branch that will be launched this month.

Founder Ronni Kahn said Oz- Harvest, which recently delivered the equivalent of its 30 millionth meal to people in need, was the first organisation to raise awareness about the importance of redistributing and reusing surplus food.

Demand for food assistance from families in WA had increased over the past year, particularly among the “working poor”.

“There’s a huge need in WA, particularly now with the whole change in the boom, ” Ms Kahn said.

“These people may have jobs but their expenses have become so great that it is really hard to make ends meet.”

WA was like every other State with “huge pockets of need” for food, Ms Kahn said.

“Over 600,000 kids in Australia are not getting three meals a day — some not even getting one — so it’s quite horrifying to think of those numbers, ” she said.

Up to $10 billion of good food was wasted in Australia every year.

Five Bar and Lot Twenty co-owner Andrew McIntyre was alarmed by the number of people going hungry in Perth.

He said it made sense for his venues to support OzHarvest and minimise waste while also helping struggling members of the community.

Jerry Schoemaker and Clint Nolan are among the growing number of Perth chefs who have teamed with the food rescue charity.