OzHarvest ACT manager Dave Burnet… “I have the welfare of the community at heart, and I love being involved in food rescue.”
The highly successful OzHarvest charity model, in which food is recovered from restaurants and supermarkets and distributed without charge to local charities, was lost to Canberra in 2012 after a falling out with local operator Communities @ Work, which went on to replace it with its own Yellow Van.
Since then, the Yellow Van service model has changed with Communities @ Work ceasing free deliveries to local charities, discontinuing food collections from small businesses and clubs, charging for food and levying charities a membership fee.
Barnet, who had been with the original OzHarvest Van and the subsequent Yellow Van, said he has been continually contacted by local charities asking for help as they couldn’t afford the charges and also found the food quality had dropped.
“Charities were made to collect food from C@W offices in Tuggers or Gungahlin and the fee applied to all,” he says. “I had major issues with this new model and made my feelings known. My position was redundant anyway, so I took a break.
“I considered setting up a new food rescue service, but the costs were prohibitive. Some of the agencies ended up contacting OzHarvest asking for help as their clients were being turned away in large numbers with no fresh-food relief.
“With the support of the Snow Foundation, Canberra Airport, the Thyne Reid Foundation and the entire team from Yellow Van (they all resigned from C@W), we’ve hit the road again.
“We’re based at Fairbairn in a donated office, and operating seven days a week.
“Our food collections are in the order of 4000 to 5000 kilos a week, and every kilo is delivered free to the 43 (and rising) charities we assist.
“Every one of the agencies/charities we used to visit as Yellow Van has signed up with us. Most have ceased visiting C@W, and we’ve been told the Yellow Van brand has been changed to C@W’s Social Programs.
“We’re not about competition, we’re about working collaboratively in the community, and there is plenty of food still available for any number of food rescue services. We have been contacted by Aldi and other supermarkets asking us to visit as there is too much food for one service.
“I have the welfare of the community at heart, and I love being involved in food rescue.”
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