Waste Not, Profit A Lot

Struggle, inconvenience, hustle, beg..four things that you haven't had to do in order for you to be able to eat food today, unlike those who are less fortunate than us.

As a former Manager of the Hungry Jacks (privately owned Australian version of the Burger King corporation, technically still a part of Burger King) fast food chain, I had to maintain correct levels of our raw produce and the finished burgers in a manner that was hygienic by HACCP international standards as well as minimising waste. Food hygiene meticulously melding with careful calculation and observation to deliver a quality product to our customers. This was a great foundation in business management for myself, fellow colleagues as well as my staff.

Recently supermarket own brand salads were contaminated with salmonella, public announcements were made, product was slowly removed from the refrigeration units (the contaminated stock was still picked up by many customers during this process) maybe it's time for supermarkets to HACCP certify not only their own food preperation procedures, but for them to certify (not currently in place) their Store Managers who in future could ensure a hygienic environment in which they store their produce and related products as well as hopefully reducing their waste production as populations increase. It is possible.

Freezer "burn" occurs when frozen products come to room temperature and then they are frozen again. Multiple times equates to more of the ice build up. Tiny shards of ice may develop within the product affecting the quality and possibly lacerating your mouth.

OzHarvest is the first perishable food rescue organisation in Australia.
Their volunteers collect quality excess food from commercial outlets and deliver it, direct and free of charge, to more than 800 charities, providing much needed assistance to vulnerable men, women and children across Australia.

Food safety is their priority. Food is collected and delivered the same day in refrigerated vans. Each of their van drivers are trained in food safety handling.
Members of the community who donate food to charities are protected from civil liability. OzHarvest operates within the food handling guidelines of the Health Departments and in strict compliance with all applicable legislation.

An "imperfect" organic heart shaped tomato from my mothers garden.

So OzHarvest have it under control and everything is fine?

With the great work that their volunteers do, there is still a lot of food going to waste. Not only due to passing their expiry dates, but also due to fruits and vegetables being thrown out due to slight imperfections. Yes slight imperfections. If I were a vegetable, I would've been thrown out many years ago due to not ripening into what is deemed as perfection. My mothers organic garden gives us most of what we need and I would easily choose her slightly imperfect fruit and vegetables which have an abundance of flavour, over perfection which is often frozen in transit and sometimes it appeals to my taste buds. Sometimes.

-What if a supermarket kept waste to a bear minimum?
-If supermarkets worked closely with farmers and local industries and bought the excess and sometimes slightly imperfect produce from the farms directly to the supermarket (unfrozen) to bring the cost of your groceries down to an affordable, everyday price.
-What if you had 4 hours to volunteer each month to work in this community supermarket who provides you training and in return they gave you a 20% discount?
-What if you can't tell a beetroot from a beatnik and this supermarket held cooking lessons to enlighten you?

If only...Yes I say to you!

King M. Rakic
HACCP Certification
OzHarvest