Adelaide’s leading chefs will join food rescue charity OzHarvest to feed 2,000 members of the public a free “rescued” meal at the University of Adelaide Goodman Lawns on North Terrace, on Monday, 25 July from 11.30am – 2.30pm at Think.Eat.Save.

Join top SA chefs and local identities including Tze Khaw (National Wine Centre), Gavin Robertson (Adelaide Convention Centre), Philip Pope (Adelaide Oval), Tony Hart (InterContinental), Kevin Martel (The Playford) and Amanda Gutte (Stamford) who will be serving up a delicious feast with the support of SA cooks Maggie Beer, Saskia Beer, Rosa Matto, Silvia Hart, Jessie Spiby and many others.

A live panel discussion will also take place with industry experts including local stars Simon Bryant, Kate Sumner of Kangaroo Island Source, Tze Khaw of the National Wine Centre and more guests on food waste, food security and sustainability moderated by OzHarvest SA Ambassador and media personality Keith Conlon.

In the spirit of sustainability, 450 delicious fruit smoothies will be made by the public and OzHarvest volunteers on “smoothie bikes”.

Think.Eat.Save events taking place nationwide will see some of the nation’s top chefs, business leaders, politicians and celebrities unite to address the urgent issue of food waste, which is currently costing Australians up to $8 billion each year.

Partnering with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), OzHarvest is urging Australians to take action on food waste.

Founder and CEO of OzHarvest, Ronni Kahn, said the aim of Think.Eat.Save 2016 is to bring attention to the alarming amount of food wasted in Australia and around the world, where roughly one third of food produced for human consumption (approx. 1.3 billion tonnes) is wasted or lost along the way.

“The current global and local food waste statistics are alarming,” Ms Kahn said. “We urgently need change to happen now to ensure a sustainable food system for future generations. This year at Think.Eat.Save we are urging Australians to make a dish using their leftovers, giving life to food that would otherwise have been wasted.

“These small efforts to reduce food waste create positive change and inspire others to take action about the urgent issue of food waste and food security.”

Ms Virginia Deegan, Acting Chief Operating Officer & Vice-President at the University of Adelaide, said Ozharvest made a real impact in the community, and the University of Adelaide was proud to be a partner of the initiative.

“University of Adelaide eateries have been donating food to OzHarvest since 2011. To date we
have donated more than 39,000 meals, equivalent to more than 13,000kg of food which would have otherwise ended up as landfill,” Ms Deegan said.

Members of the public are encouraged to get involved by making a personal pledge to change their eating behaviour and reduce food waste via #PledgeAPlate. You can pledge a plate by making a meal out of leftovers, rescued or saved ingredients, taking a photo and uploading it on social media with the hashtag #PledgeAPlate and fundraise via www.pledgeaplate.com. Those participating are then encouraged to nominate someone else to take part via social media.

To mark the national Australian campaign to reduce food waste, OzHarvest will host 11 events across the country, feeding over 15,000 thousand people a free, delicious and hearty hot meal made from rescued produce and educating people about reducing food waste.

#PledgeAPlate Campaign Toolkits will be made available from July 25 at www.pledgeaplate.com for businesses and schools to take action and get involved in the Think.Eat.Save campaign.

The national food waste reduction campaign is supported by Woolworths and Glad.

NATIONAL THINK.EAT.SAVE PUBLIC EVENTS

DATE & TIME: Monday, 25 July from 11.30am – 2.30pm (major cities)

CLICK HERE FOR FULL LOCATION LIST

Sydney event: Martin Place, Sydney

Adelaide event: The University of Adelaide Goodman Lawns, North Terrace

Brisbane event: St Stephen’s Cathedral, Brisbane

Canberra event: Garema Place

Gold Coast event: The 4217, 10 Beach Road, Surfers Paradise

Melbourne event: The State Library of Victoria, Melbourne

Newcastle event: Wheeler Place, Newcastle

Perth event: Forrest Place, Perth CBD

Regional Areas: Cairns, Sapphire Coast, Armidale

For a full list of events and information, please visit www.ozharvest.org

Social media tags: @ozharvest @UNEP #thinkeatsave #pledgeaplate