SPIRITED
Soul Food EXPERIENCE The OzHarvest Cooking For A Cause program is something we should all do - a hands-on experience that transforms rescued food into nutritious meals for those in need. Not only will this act of kindness fill many hungry tummies on the Sunshine Coast, but it will also provide nourishment for your soul and perhaps a new bond with your work colleagues. OzHarvest was founded in 2004 after events manager Ronni Kahn witnessed excessive food waste in her industry. With a van and a plan, she set off to rescue food and deliver it to local charities – in her first month she had delivered 4000 meals. With food insecurity only growing and liability laws preventing OzHarvest from expanding, this powerhouse of a human and her pro bono lawyers lobbied the government to have these outdated and unsustainable rules changed. In 2005, the laws changed allowing surplus food to be donated without fear of liability. To this date, OzHarvest has delivered 280 million meals made from rescued food and created a movement that recently attracted the attention of music superstar Billie Eilish, who made it her charity of choice as part of her 2023 Hello Sunshine Magazine
...the simple act of cooking a meal is one little thing that can change the day, week or mindset of locals doing it tough... Happier Than Ever Australian tour. Proceeds from special charity ticket sales funded plant-based meals in collaboration with Support + Feed, a US-based organisation founded by Billie’s mum, Maggie Baird. As a result, local Sunshine Coast families are now benefitting from this global act of kindness - an inspiring full-circle moment of food, fame, and philanthropy. Our Cooking For A Cause experience brought together some of the region’s best chefs and producers plus a few amateurs (like me) to create as many meals as possible with the rescued food from that day. We gathered in the 46
PHOTOS: MEGAN GILL
There is no better friend than a good meal and no better meal than one made with love (and rescued food) for our most vulnerable community members. Carlie Wacker and some celebrity chef friends cook up a soulful feed with an OzHarvest program funded by a music superstar of the moment, Billie Eilish.
kitchen at Maroochy Neighbourhood Centre (which has its own thriving community garden) and got stuck into dishing up dinner for people in need. The program is designed as a corporate team building activity and highlights the power of community, sustainability, and corporate social responsibility. It is led by the fabulous OzHarvest Chef Facilitator Lynda Morrison, with a focus on simplicity, nutrition, and impact. The recipes are designed to be family-friendly and not too spicy, ensuring suitability for vulnerable recipients, and the facts and conversations shared during the class will stay with me forever. We learnt about the food waste issues in the country, ways in which we can minimise waste at work and home and how to create the most amazing meals from food that would have otherwise gone to landfill. Our team for the day included myself, John Caruso and Jakki Goodall from Hello Sunshine Magazine plus our guests Teneille Newton, co-founder of Noosa Black Garlic, and Jamie Marshall from Creative Tours; celebrity chef and fan favourite Peter Kuruvita; Executive Chef of Crackerjack - Your Mates Brewing, Jake Pregnell; and Darryl Rush, Cookery Teacher from TAFE Queensland. Along with volunteers Gaynor and Linda, we