“The aim was to give people in business an idea of what is required in terms of preparing food and getting food to these Community Based Organisations who feed hungry people. It was about creating connections. People in big businesses are often removed from the needs and requirements of people who do not get food in South Africa,” said Alan Browde, Chief Executive Officer and founder of SA Harvest.
Maker’s Landing at the V&A Waterfront looked like a scene from MasterChef on Tuesday 14 November as a group of women cooked-up a nutritious curry meal which was later distributed to families in need.
The cook-off was organised by renowned food rescue and hunger relief organisation SA Harvest in commemoration of World Kindness Day celebrated on Monday 13 November.
The group of women form part of the organisation’s beneficiaries,
SA Harvest supplies them with ingredients, and food parcels to make wholesome nutritious meals.
On Tuesday, a group of employees from tech company Amazon SA joined the women and helped them prepare meals using rescued food and helped pack food parcels.
Alan Browde, Chief Executive Officer and founder of SA Harvest, said: “The aim was to give people in business an idea of what is required in terms of preparing food and getting food to these Community Based Organisations who feed hungry people. It was about creating connections. People in big businesses are often removed from the needs and requirements of people who do not get food in South Africa.”
He said food waste remains a massive problem in the country with over 10 million tons of food going to waste annually.
“We are in a country where there’s an excess of food, but millions of children go to sleep hungry every night.”
Browde said 30% of children under the age of seven don’t get enough nutrition. “We believe in systemic intervention, which is based on our constitution. Section 27 says every South African has the right to enough food. Section 28 states every child has the right to good nutrition. These constitutional rights are not being fulfilled in the country and that is what we have to work on.”
Browde said urgent intervention is necessary. “People can’t afford food, we need to look at employment, making food waste illegal, bring back price control, support small farmers. There is a whole list of what can be done to alleviate this.”
He said as an organisation they have delivered over 40 million meals in the last four years.
The beneficiary organisations include Where Rainbows Meet, New Living Hope, Eyardini Community Development, Aurora, CBD Helping Hands, Nonkululeko Nutritional Centre, Milnerton Outreach, Projects for People, Community KidsPot, Elevation Youth Centre, Eleanor Murray Old Age Home, and Restoring Hope.
Magda Fortuin, house mother at Eleanor Murray Residence in Woodstock, said the organisation’s contribution to the old age home is a great benefit.
“Veggies and fruit are expensive so their donations [are] a great help. We really appreciate the organisation, they care for the needy. May God bless their organisation.”
Christiana Groenewoud, a representative for Projects for People based in Milnerton, said they serve people from Ysterplaat up to Saldanha Bay.
She explained SA Harvest plays a massive role in supplying them with ingredients.
“We feed people every Thursday. We focus on early childhood development centres and the elderly. SA Harvest is amazing. I get tears in my eyes when I think what they do for us.”
Charlene Windvogel, the founder of CBD Helping hands based in Blue Downs, said it caters for about 2 700 people from Monday to Friday in areas such as Delft, Mitchell’s Plain and Mfuleni.
“SA Harvest has been good to me, the first crops that come in I receive. They support me in my cooking and my veggie garden.”
