Food Donation Education

Aims

Food Donation Education grants support projects that increase the efficiency and capacity of food relief organisations to collect and redistribute more good quality surplus food, rather than it being sent to landfill.

The Food Donation Education grants complement the funding for food donation infrastructure available through the Organics Infrastructure (Large and Small) grants program.

What will be funded?

Funding is available to deliver a range of food donation education activities. Applicants must demonstrate how the activity will result in more food being donated from business and being distributed to people in need. Please read the Food Donation Education guidelines below for examples of activities eligible for funding.

Application forms (for reference only)

• Download Food Donation Education Guidelines for Applicants (PDF 497KB)
• Download Food Donation Education application form (Word Doc 124KB)
• Download Food Donation Education budget form (Excel 28KB)

A webinar outlining key information for applicants was held in October 2019. For copies of the webinar slides, email organics.recycling@epa.nsw.gov.au

Round 3 recipients - project summaries 

Round 3 allocated $405,199 to six projects.

Canberra Region Joint Organisation
Empower the Food Donation Network in Canberra Region
$100,000

Canberra Region Joint Organisation (CRJO) will employ a Food Rescue Project Officer to undertake regional food donation engagement and education activities. The purpose of the program is to increase food donation in its local communities with the benefit of diverting food waste from our regional landfills and alleviating issues associated with food insecurity. CRJO will use apps to connect potential food donors with food relief agencies in the region. CRJO will also work with Queanbeyan Palerang Regional Council and Bega Valley Shire Council to share resources and learn from their experience of delivering food donation education projects in the region.

NEWaste
North East Waste Food Donation Program Phase 2
$47,310

This project will implement recommendations made in the Northern Rivers Food Hub Feasibility Study 2018-19 undertaken with a previous Food Donation Education grant. Actions include: 

• building the capacity of food relief agencies to gain ongoing funding and support to continue their existing work 
• improving access to foods on a regular basis, particularly fresh and frozen produce 
• promoting food donation, networking and collaboration amongst agencies and donors to improve processes and share resources. 

This project is closely tied to NEWaste’s Love Food Communities Grant project and Business Programs.

Addison Road Community Organisation 
WOW (War on Waste) Food2! Inner West
$96,240

Addison Road Community Organisation (ARCO) aims to build on the work of its previous WOW Food! Inner West project. It will continue to engage with potential donors to increase the number of food donors by 25, and the amount of food rescued by 25%, to 120 tonnes per year. It will also address the challenges that donors have in donating food, based on the findings of the Food Donor Study previously undertaken by ARCO. The project will also continue to expand the partnerships with Inner West Food Rescue Alliance members to build their capacity to access donated food and seek to expand on the success of the Hilton Hotel model.

Food Fairness Illawarra
Illawarra's [web-based] guide to Food Donations 
$88,138.40

Food Fairness Illawarra is a community coalition that aims to make healthy and sustainable food available and affordable for all. It will bring together food donation stakeholders to develop an interactive web-based guide for food donations in the Illawarra. The guide will raise the profile of food donation and provide an all-inclusive insight into the food waste issue, community need and the complex food rescue landscape. The guide will be launched with an extensive stakeholder engagement campaign to ensure enhanced collaboration and drive increased food donations within the region.

CareVan Wagga
Carevan Wagga Incorporated Networking for Food Security (CWI – N4FS) Project
$24,550

CareVan Wagga will conduct a feasibility study around food rescue processes in the region. The study will include the identification of potential commercial food donors and identify gaps/barriers to local food rescue.  The project will include two workshops bringing together key stakeholders with a view to establishing positive partnerships by creating a networking group who will share expertise/knowledge and work to bridge the gap between unnecessary food waste and the increasing need to provide meals.

Camden Community Connection
Macarthur Food Donation and Engagement Program
$48,961

The Camden Community Connection project will employ a  part time food donor engagement officer to:  

• identify and engage local food donors to increase access to food for our food relief programs 
• provide education to food donors and those receiving relief about the importance of reducing food waste 
• promote the programs to local business and those in need 
• recruit and upskill volunteers to be food waste education champions. 

Round 2 recipients - project summaries 

Round 2 allocated $765,076 to 10 projects.

All Sustainable Futures Inc
Food Donation Recruitment and Coordination - Illawarra and Shoalhaven
$95,480

This project will work with existing food donation organisations as well as other social service and charity organisations to identify barriers, needs, capacity and issues in the food donation process. ALL Sustainable Futures will work with existing food donors to increase diversion and streamline efforts to recruit new food donors to satisfy demand and match capacity. The project will also educate the community on accessing surplus food and food services available.

Bay City Care
Community FoodCare donor awareness and engagement Program
$43,480

This project will setup a central coordinator to establish donor awareness and engagement for all Community FoodCare Partners across NSW.  Bay City Care will establish a central hub in Arncliffe to help every partner location to identify local wholesalers or small food manufacturers to initiate relationships with all Community FoodCare Partners. The project's methodology includes researching potential businesses in the targeted areas for ultimately becoming new regular food donors, supporting the FoodCare program.

Bega Valley Shire Council
Food for Thought – Resurrecting food in the Bega Valley
$177,070

The project will educate local businesses and households to increase in food donation across the Bega Valley, resulting in more food for local food rescuers to redistribute to people in need and less good food  ending up in landfill. Bega Valley Shire Council will use its strong community links to form partnerships between food and hospitality organisations and people in need.  

Christian Community Aid Services Inc
The Community Store - Making our Food go Further
$41,264

This project will see Christian Community Aid Services, in North-West Sydney  engaging with local CALD (culturally and linguistically diverse) businesses to educate and promote reduction of food waste by increasing food donation. The result will be  an expansion of the  agency food donation network to enable the Community Store to better  support families in need and reduce food insecurity in the community. 

Cumberland Council
Food for Thought Feasibility Study: enhancing food donations in Cumberland Council area
$20,000

This project involves undertaking a a feasibility study to identify opportunities and barriers to expanding food relief programs within the Cumberland area. The aim is to determine potential capacity to rescue more food from landfill and provide more food relief within the local community. First, the project will gather baseline information on local businesses willing to donate volumes of local food currently being donated/landfilled, and food relief agencies currently operating within Cumberland. Secondly, it will identify opportunities/barriers to expand food rescue and relief; including gaps in infrastructure, resourcing, partnership opportunities and logistical arrangements to enable more food redistribution, particularly from council community centres.

Food for Change Foundation
Food for Change/IGA Food Rescue partnership
$175,100

The project will facilitate the rescue of donated food from 100 IGA stores across NSW preventing approximately 600 tonnes of surplus food going to landfill over two years. Local food relief organisations will be partnered with nearby IGA stores and will rescue food fit for human consumption that otherwise will be going to landfill. The Food Rescue Program is supported by a partnership with Metcash/IGA and has been created to help feed people in need through facilitating the communication between food relief organisations and local IGAs.  

Griffith Meals on Wheels Inc
Hampers of hope - Caring for our community
$93,583

The project will educate, train and communicate with local food businesses with the objective of removing barriers to surplus food donations. The aim is to increase the number of food donors engaged in the Meals on Wheels food rescue and redistribution project and address food insecurity across disadvantaged people in the Griffith region.;

OzHarvest Newcastle
OzHarvest Newcastle Food Donor Engagement Expansion
$34,000

The project will improve and expand engagement with supermarket food donors within the Greater Newcastle Region using strategies designed to influence food donation behaviours.  Tailored engagement collateral will be produced to enhance the food rescue process, support ongoing engagement and increase subsequent food donations by an additional 1,000 kg each month. OzHarvest Newcastle will employ a Food Donor Engagement Officer to engage 26 targeted donors and up-skill drivers in assertive communication and conversation skills.

OzHarvest Sydney
OzHarvest Sydney Food Donation Engagement Expansion
$41,176

The project will assist to expand OzHarvest's food donor engagement capacity using different mechanisms, designed to effectively influence food donation behaviours. OzHarvest Sydney will employ a Food Donor Engagement Coordinator to directly engage with 30 targeted food donors, focussing on large-scale distribution centres and work with our pool of volunteers to empower 200 individuals as in-store food waste education champions. Tailored engagement collateral will be produced for new food donors to enhance the food rescue process and support ongoing donations.

Winmalee Neighbourhood Centre Inc
Expansion of Winmalee Food Rescue Project - Shared Response
$43,923

The project will address the ever-growing issues of food insecurity while reducing food waste in landfill by engaging and increasing food donors. Initiating collaborative partnerships and coalitions that span across agencies in lieu of working in 'silos' will provide innovative solutions to address food waste. The project approach takes collective willpower to drive change that would not be possible through the efforts of one organisation alone. 

Round 1 recipients - project summaries 

Round 1 allocated $971,733 to 11 projects.

Seventh-day Adventist Church (North New South Wales Conference) Ltd
ADRA Food Pantry Singleton
$9,250

The project will allow to increase the range of perishable food donated from local donors and the ability to hygienically store it. The ADRA Food Pantry in Singleton will expand food storage and distribution including frozen goods and weekly surplus food delivered by Foodbank NSW and SecondBite. The funding will also increase the visibility of the ADRA Food Pantry to encourage more local donations of unwanted produce and to serve larger number of clients facing food insecurity.

Addison Road Community Centre Organisation
“WOW Food! Inner West” (The Inner West War on Food Waste)
$143,814

“WOW Food! Inner West” is a locality-based food rescue program. It consists of three projects that interact to create an active food-rescue network across the Inner West local government area: 1. A study to identify potential new food donors working with 10 of these to discern the key challenges to increasing their food donation and developing solutions; 2. A high-visibility campaign to mobilise new donors and customers to act on reducing food waste; 3. Formation of an alliance of food-relief organisations to increase their capacity to collect and re-distribute growing volumes of donated food.

Central Coast Community Council Inc
Central Coast Food Donation & Recovery Collaboration Strategy
$185,497

Business & Community organisations on the Central Coast are coming together to address the wastage of food. Through a detailed feasibility study, consultation and communication, the project will develop a model for working together that will result in a significant increase in the amount of food being donated to those in need, whilst reducing the amount going to landfill. The project will also progress an infrastructure plan to facilitate the implementation of a region-wide strategy.

North East Waste
Northern Rivers Food Hub Feasibility Study and Gap Analysis
$24,500

The project aims to establish a baseline of data and information to: 1. guide North East Waste’s future involvement in the food donation and waste avoidance space, and how it can support stakeholders; 2. identify needs, opportunities and barriers to successful collaboration amongst donors and food donation agencies. The project will assess the feasibility of a regional food hub/s and improve collaboration amongst agencies working together with the aim of maximising efficiencies and food waste diversion. This will occur through formation of three sub-regional working group, 10 face to face interviews and 30 surveys to guide the project.

NetWaste
Food Rescue Central West: Community Engagement
$47,856

Building upon earlier successes Food Rescue Central West plans on relaunching its successful TV and Facebook engagement campaign with the Central West community of NSW, while also developing advertisements targeted at specific demographics across the Central West, such as food producers. This is to encourage additional food donations to food relief agencies and therefore reduce the volume of food going to landfill.

NetWaste
Food Rescue Central West: Fostering Regional Partnerships
$59,806

Following on from the NSW EPA Food Rescue Pilot project that was undertaken by FoodCare Orange earlier in 2017 in partnership with Regional Waste group NetWaste & Food Rescue Central West, the project will conduct further research that will include a regional feasibility study. The study is designed to gather additional data relating to the capacity and needs of food rescue groups within the Central West that will assist these groups to identify a practical model that will allow agencies to work together effectively to meet the needs of customers across the region and decrease the amount of waste food that ends up in landfill.  

OzHarvest
OzHarvest Newcastle Food Donor Engagement Project
$81,000

OzHarvest will improve engagement with supermarket food donors within Newcastle using strategies designed to influence food donation behaviours. OzHarvest Newcastle will employ a Food Donor Engagement Officer to engage directly with targeted food donors, and will up-skill drivers in negotiation and communication skills, increasing food donor engagement and subsequent food donations. Engagement collateral will be produced to enhance the food rescue process and support ongoing engagement. Through support from the NSW EPA, OzHarvest Newcastle will engage 52 targeted food donors to increase the quantity of food rescued in the Greater Newcastle Region, by an additional 1,000 kilograms of edible food each month.

OzHarvest
OzHarvest Sydney Food Donor Engagement Project
$144,010

OzHarvest Sydney will improve engagement with existing food donors through a variety of new strategies, designed to influence food donation behaviours. OzHarvest Sydney will employ a Food Donor Engagement Officer to engage directly with targeted food donors, and will up-skill drivers in negotiation and communication skills, increasing food donor engagement and subsequent food donations. Engagement collateral will be produced to enhance the food rescue process and support ongoing engagement. Through support from the NSW EPA, OzHarvest Sydney will engage 140 targeted food donors to increase the quantity of food rescued in the Greater Sydney Region, by an additional 10 tonnes of edible food each month.

Queanbeyan-Palerang Regional Council
Employment of a Food Rescue Project Officer for the Queanbeyan-Palerang region
$70,000

Queanbeyan-Palerang Regional Council (QPRC) intends to employ a Food Rescue Project Officer to undertake food donor engagement and education within the Queanbeyan-Palerang region to increase food donation within local community, with the benefit of diverting food waste from landfill and alleviating issues associated with food insecurity.  QPRC will partner with OzHarvest ACT Territories to collect and deliver food donations generated by the Food Rescue Project Officer to beneficiaries within the Queanbeyan-Palerang region.  

SecondBite
FeedMORE NSW
$134,000

In NSW SecondBite currently rescues food from 122 retail stores. Through proactive, regular engagement and education with retail partners FeedMORE NSW will significantly improve donation volumes across the existing store network. The project will secure an additional 600,000 kilograms of food, equating to the provision of an additional 1.2 million healthy meals for communities in need for the period March 2018-February 2020.

Settlement Service International 
The Staples Bag Supplier Engagement Project
$72,000

The Staples Bag is an award-winning community food project of Settlement Services International, a leading non-profit organisation providing a range of humanitarian services. Since October 2015 the Staples Bag has assisted over 130,000 individuals and families from low income backgrounds to access affordable groceries through the main store in Campsie and the 18 pop-up stores across the Sydney Metro Area. As demand for affordable grocery service increases, the project will support opportunities to expand the store’s food stock by identifying and collecting supplier food surplus, thereby recovering food stock to benefit the store’s customers before it ends up in landfill.

More information

Waste and Resource Recovery Branch
Organics Unit
Phone: 131 555

Email: organics.recycling@epa.nsw.gov.au