Thanks a Million: OzHarvest chef Mark Hamilton creates 1000s of gourmet meals for those in need

Job loss and financial hardship should not take away your right to enjoy gourmet food, according to this NSW charity chef.

Mark Hamilton knows his way around a commercial kitchen.

As a chef with food relief charity OzHarvest, he would help produce hundreds of portions of food a day through the corporate cooking sessions he led.

That was before the devastating bushfires earlier in the year and COVID-19.

With little notice, Hamilton and his team had to quickly change their focus when the challenges of 2020 hit.

These days, the chefs at OzHarvest produce up to 1000 gourmet meals a day for members of the community struggling through financial hardship, including those who have been shattered by job loss due during COVID-19.

He was nominated in the Thanks a Million campaign for the quick way in which he was able to transfer his skills to meet the new challenges in his community.

Mark Hamilton has been preparing hundreds of thousands of meals in a rapid food relief response to people doing it tough during the pandemic. Picture: Richard Dobson

“When COVID-19 hit we had about a week at home where we had to think about what our next move would be,” the 54-year-old said. “The team of chefs switched to bulk production of food, putting out around 1000 portions a day.”

NOMINATE SOMEONE WHO DESERVES THANKS

Even before COVID-19 arrived, Hamilton was already focusing on how to help communities devastated by loss of property due to the bushfires. The OzHarvest team filled up vans and travelled up and down NSW distributing food.

“Myself and another chef, Renzo (Velarde) went down to the communities on the NSW/VIC border and spent a weekend cooking for them,” he said. “We cooked a barbecue and a meal for a farmer who had lost so much and who was having a birthday.

“It was the least we could do.”

While OzHarvest prepare meals made from quality produce discarded by commercial outlets, the results are far from basic.

On one day this week, Hamilton and his team prepared chili con carne with spiced wedges, pork and bean stew with polenta wedges and a delicious hearty minestrone soup.

“The meals we make are gourmet and that’s important because for a lot of the people receiving them, they may not have had a decent meal in a while,” he said.

“We want them to open up the container and say ‘wow, this looks great!’”