One of the biggest food rescue operations in Australia wants to expand its links to businesses and help them build their environmental, social and governance objectives at the same time.
Despite only a few weeks into the job, Daniel Moorfield, the new chief executive of SecondBite, a food rescue not-for-profit organisation that provides food those experiencing food insecurity free of charge, is charging ahead with visions of protecting the environment and ending hunger and food waste.
“One in five Australians are food insecure, and that’s more than 5 million people, and when I went out to see some of our agency partners – they said at least 20 per cent more people are asking for help – and these are people we’ve never seen before,” he says.
“Right now, 7.6 million tonnes and in Australia, and we collect a very small portion of that.
“We collect 25 million kilos of that food, which equates to about 50 million meals a year to people in need.
“More needs to be done”
While the organisation primarily receives support from Coles and its supply chains, Moorfield hopes to expand further as more people come to recognise that food rescue is good for the environment.
He says it’s a great opportunity for businesses to enhance their environment, social and governance credentials by making sure their excess food goes to the people who need it. It can also assist charities with their food distribution commitments allowing them time and space to focus on more core activities.
The organisation has partnered with more than 1100 charities and over 1500 food donors to rescue and distribute more than 250 million meals since launch in 2005.
It is also supported by more than 600 volunteers and 80 staff across Melbourne, Brisbane, Sydney, Adelaide, and Perth and has partnered with distributors in Tasmania and the Northern Territory.
Measuring carbon emissions remains a challenge
While its primary sustainability mission was saving the environment by preventing food from going to landfills, the organisation is also attempting to reduce its CO2 impact.
According to Moorfield there’s a big need to be more efficient in terms of food but there can also be environmental benefits in working at scale.
For instance, that means the organisation’s fleet of 35 trucks nationally picking up pallets saves its more than 1000 charity partners from having their cars on the road picking up a box of bananas and dropping them off; it puts fewer emissions into the environment.
The organisation also wants to factor in the difficult job of working out the CO2 required to grow food or produce meat, as well as the environmental cost savings of putting bananas, for instance, back in landfill.
“There are many factors that we must consider, like the carbon emission from transport; we’ve put numbers into carbon calculators and websites. We’ve done everything we can, but it’s currently hard to put a definite number on it – especially when our priority is getting more food out to people.”
The organisation doesn’t have a sustainability team. It relies on the support of pro bono partners – so the answers can take a longer to land on, says Moorfield.
And everyone is united under the cause
Among big food rescue industry players such as FoodBank and Ozharvest, Moorfield claims his new employer is the largest when it comes to delivering free food.
However, there is no real competition in food rescue, he says.
“Everyone is working together to present to the government and the industry [this week on Tuesday] because this is something everyone needs to realise that can be improved upon,” Moorfield says.
“The approach is something we have to think about more holistically – it’s a big challenge for everyone – you can sit there and look at what you do as an individual company, but you actually need the coordination of supermarket chains, suppliers, manufacturers, and food rescue business – it’s a network, and that’s how you make big changes.
Moorfield identifies that the organisation had the potential to assist companies with sustainability and food waste reduction priorities – something he wishes to improve on.
He says that to make the initial connection you might need to talk to four or five different people, but his organisation is probably already well connected.
“We can help any business who are interested in getting on this journey – we can help them with that.”
Another advantage is that through receiving free rescued food, charities and organisations could save money that they can reinvest in other services such as health and wellbeing programs.
“There’s no silver bullet,” says Moorfield. “We as consumers that are driving this behaviour – it’s not just one company or person – there’s a lot we need help with, and that’s why we need a whole network to oppose this.”