Sharing food & support

In times like these, it’s the less fortunate that can struggle the most. The limits to the interaction between person to person put restrictions on charities who aim to support and aid struggling Australians. Fresh State has recently built a partnership with FareShare, and Fareshare is currently doing everything in their power to keep their kitchen running during the current COVID-19 epidemic.

Knowing that vulnerable people need meals now more than ever, FareShare is operating with a reduced number of volunteers, practicing social distancing, and enforcing very stringent hygiene measures to reduce the risk of infection. Here is an introduction to FareShare and what they do.

Who is FareShare?

FareShare rescues surplus food and cooks free, nutritious meals for Australians doing it tough. FareShare operates Australia’s largest charity kitchens, which are powered by volunteers under the guidance of experienced chefs. The healthy, ready-to-eat meals are shared with frontline charities such as soup vans, homeless shelters, women’s refuges, and community foodbanks. Every day FareShare’s Abbotsford kitchen aims to cook 6,000 nutritious meals making a meaningful difference to the growing number of marginalised Australians struggling to put food on the table at this difficult time. Our protein and vegetablepacked meals boost the physical and mental health of the most vulnerable people in our community, including women and children fleeing domestic violence, the isolated and elderly, and people of all ages experiencing homelessness. FareShare is a charity and relies on donations and the goodwill of 1,000 regular volunteers to fight hunger with nutritious meals.

How do they help the community?

FareShare’s nutritious, cooked meals can be lifechanging. A typical FareShare meal contains over 65 percent of the recommended daily intake of vegetables and more than 51 percent of meat. Whether it’s a pre-school child growing up in a home without cooking equipment or a 99-yearold veteran getting by alone at home, FareShare’s cooked meals help transform lives and provide the energy vulnerable people need to cope.

What resources (Fruit and veg) do they need to complete the work that they do?

We need fresh vegetables to add nutrition to our cooked meals. At the moment, we would be particularly grateful for sweet potatoes, washed potatoes (unfortunately, we can’t accept dirty potatoes), cauliflower, carrots, zucchini, and pumpkin. We cannot use salad greens.

We hope that we can work closely with FareShare and support the broader community in the future. Stay tuned for more collaboration with FareShare to come.