Christina McBeth and Rachael Graham from Nourished for Nil.
Nourished for Nil was formed in 2017 by Christina McBeth and Louise Saurin with a mission to rescue food that would otherwise go to waste and redistribute it to the Hawke's Bay community. The goal is to minimise the food waste in Hawke's Bay and keep our community nourished for nil.
We are a local non-profit organisation with a simple system, rescuing food from donors to recipients in the space of mere hours. The team is comprised of committed volunteers with a shared passion for reducing waste and helping the community.
Nourished for Nil will not discriminate, judge or label any community members who find themselves needing their service. We are open to everyone!
As a nation, we waste around $1.17 billion a year on food that we buy and throw away uneaten. That is 33% fresh fruit & vegetables, 27% leftovers, 15% packaged and long life products, 9% drinks and frozen items, and 7% take-a-ways.
Add to that the staggering 20 - 40 per cent of fresh fruit and veggies that never even make it to the supermarket shelves because they don’t fall within consumer standards.
Food waste that goes to the landfill breaks down and produces methane gas. This is 21 more potent than CO2 as a greenhouse gas.
Far too little food is recovered or rescued and that is where Nourished for Nil comes in.
Use-by date: For health and safety reasons, certain foods with a use-by must be eaten on or before the specified date. Nourished for Nil will ensure that donated foods that exceed the use-by date are disposed of appropriately.
Best before Date: Foods with a ‘best before’ date may still be legally sold provided the food is fit for human consumption. Donated foods in this category are inspected to ensure that packaging is intact. Where there is doubt about packaging integrity or product quality, the food is disposed of appropriately.
Canned foods, sterilised and UHT-treated products: These are recognised as being safe indefinitely. However, all donated foods in this category are inspected to ensure packaging has not been compromised. Where packaging is damaged, the food is disposed of appropriately.
Specific storage conditions: Where a donated food requires refrigeration (e.g. yoghurt, meat, etc.), every effort is made to maintain the specified storage conditions.
Donated foods from gardens: We don’t mind bumps and bruises, but fruit or vegetables that are squashed or rotten will go into the compost bin!