A local North Canterbury food rescue organisation says it has doubled its distribution since New Zealand went into Level 4 lockdown in March.
Satisfy Food Rescue is based in Kaiapoi and services various organisations and food banks across the Waimakariri District, sometimes delivering rescued goods as far as Christchurch.
It acts as a go-between by saving food that is on its way to waste from supermarkets and growers, and giving it to existing local community organisations or local charities that are helping those in need.
Since the lockdown there has also been a rise in food donations.
Philippa Hunt, chairperson of Satisfy Food Rescue, believes the 50 per cent increase in food donations comes down to a variety of reasons, with some unable to offload their produce because their usual outlets like fresh food markets are no longer operating.
But she also believes Covid-19 is making Kiwis more aware of the hardships others face.
One supplier had 30 tonnes of milk it needed to distribute, which Satisfy also shared around to other food rescue operations. And, just this week the team received 300kgs of capsicums from a local grower who had heard stories of Kiwis livelihoods being impacted by the virus, and wanted to help out.
“That donor had just been really moved by the struggle that a lot of people are under at the moment,” she says.
“It makes us feel so grateful, really grateful, and I’m really pleased that it's helped to raise people's awareness of what's going on now, but really what's been going on for a long time.”
Because of the Covid-19 working restrictions, the team has had to downsize its workforce across three days instead of five while still keeping up with the demand.
The team’s usual distribution centre is also too small to have everyone abiding by social distancing regulations so they’ve innovated by operating from their own homes and working within their own family bubbles.
“We usually have three part time staff in normal operations and four or five volunteers every weekday. So for us it’s quite a big team,” says Ms Hunt.
Before the Covid-19 pandemic, Satisfy was donating rescued food to between 25-27 organisations. Because some of those organisations weren’t classified as essential, that number has dropped down to 15.
Despite that drop, and an increase in donations from local growers and food retailers, the need for rescued food has also increased.
“There has definitely been a significant increase in need,” says Ms Hunt.
“With the changes and circumstances out there there’s a lot of people who are struggling.”
Ms Hunt hopes Covid-19 helps more Kiwis to harness that sense of community their donors have embraced.
“My real hope is that we don’t go back to normal, that people begin to understand more clearly the extent of the need in our community,” she says.
“Both from a food poverty perspective but a food waste perspective. We need to look after the resources that we have and not take them for granted. Let’s really appreciate what we've got.”
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