OzHarvest SA celebrates a huge milestone in their food rescue operations with the delivery of its ten millionth meal to clients at The Salvation Army Adelaide.

OzHarvest State Manager SA, Lyndall Vandenberg explained the growth in the last eight years was thanks to community support and a network of over 250 local food businesses, which have helped save more than three million kgs of surplus food from landfill.

“Our yellow vans are on the road six days a week saving around 15,000 kgs of good quality food and delivering it to 125 local charities, schools and community groups to help those most at risk across South Australia. We are incredibly proud to deliver our 10 millionth meal to The Salvation Army today, a charity that OzHarvest has supported since inception, delivering fresh fruit and vegetables, meat, dairy and assorted frozen meals three times a week for local men and women in need.”

“Ten million meals is a fantastic milestone and I’d love to see us get to 20 million meals in the next year, but we’ll definitely need some extra help to get there!  We know the need is there as many of the charities we deliver to say they could take double the food to meet demand,” said Lyndall.

Mark Foyle, The Salvation Army Public Relations Secretary for SA/NT said the regular supply of fresh food from OzHarvest means they are able to feed hundreds of people every week which is vital to their operations.

“Without OzHarvest food, we would not be able to feed the men and women we support fresh and nutritious meals every day.  The impact goes beyond just food as it saves valuable funds which can be redirected to provide other essential services to help support those doing it tough in the local community.”

Food rescue operations in SA rely on regular food donations from local businesses, including National Food Rescue Partner Woolworths who provide fresh and nutritious food from 46 stores in the region.

Woolworths SA State General Manager Karl Weber said; “As the fresh food people, our love and respect for food is an essential part of who we are, and what we do. The ability to identify and divert our surplus fresh food to OzHarvest for local charities like The Salvation Army who help feed those in need, is a critical part of or day-to-day operations and support of the community.”

The hunger crisis in Australia now effects more than one in five Australians who rely on food relief[1]. OzHarvest SA still has a number of charities on the waiting list to receive food and demand for food relief is constantly on the rise. 

To help OzHarvest SA reach their next milestone, contact [email protected]

[1] Foodbank Hunger Report 2019