Member for Terrigal, Mr Adam Crouch, has announced that Central Coast Community Council, the peak body for the region’s not-for-profit organisations, would receive $185,497 to help divert food waste from landfill.
Mr Crouch said the funding would develop a region-wide plan and strategy to combat food wastage. “This commitment will enable business and community organisations to work together to address waste of food,” Mr Crouch said. “I’m really pleased that local businesses, like Breakers Country Club, have already shown interest in partnering with Central Coast Community Council to reduce food waste,” he said. “As part of the NSW Government’s Food Donation Education Program, it will ensure good quality surplus food ends up on plates rather than in the bin, benefitting both the environment and people facing food insecurity.”
Mr Brad Wilson, Regional Development Officer at Central Coast Community Council, said food insecurity was a hidden crisis in the community. “With housing costs taking up an increasingly large share of family incomes, there are many households that have to choose between heating or food,” Mr Wilson said. “Over the next two years, we aim to create partnerships right across the Coast, linking food businesses like Breakers Country Club, to community organisations who are providing emergency relief to those families,” he said.
Central Coast Councillor Jilly Pilon said: “With so much food waste ending up in landfill, this is a wonderful initiative from the State Government to assist in redirecting food to feed people in need before it even becomes a waste.” As part of the NSW Government’s $802m Waste Less, Recycle More initiative, $2m has been committed to projects that provide food relief agencies with extra resources to sign up more donors, to work collaboratively, and to collect more surplus food for redistribution.
This funding complements other grants available to food relief agencies for equipment like fridges, freezers and refrigerated vans, to increase their capacity to collect, store and manage more donated food. “The State Liberal Government is committed to helping edible food be donated from business and distributed to people in need. “These grants are helping to make the most of food in NSW before it becomes waste,” Mr Crouch said.
Source: Media release, Jun 28 Ben Sheath, office of Adam Crouch