Food relief rendezvous: SecondBite and FareShare join forces to tackle hunger

Two leading food relief charities, SecondBite and FareShare, have announced their merger in an effort to tackle food insecurity in Australia.

Melbourne single mother of three Latisha is supported by SecondBite. Picture: supplied

With almost half of Australians skipping at least one meal a week due to financial stress, food relief charities SecondBite and FareShare have announced they will merge to address this crisis together.

The union will be formalised on July 1, but two food charities already have a working relationship on an operational level with SecondBite supplying ingredients to FareShare to cook, which is then distributed to communities in need throughout Australia.

This comes off the back of SecondBite’s research, which revealed 48 per cent of people were missing meals as a cost-saving measure.

SecondBite and FoodShare are two of Australia’s biggest food charities. Photo: Supplied

Coles and Woolworths, SecondBite and FareShare’s major food and financial donors, have thrown their support behind the merger.

SecondBite CEO Daniel Moorfield said the merger will “enable growth, resulting in a greater supply of food,” with the national organisation harnessing about 25 million kilograms of surplus produce annually.

“FareShare and SecondBite have long recognised the complementary nature of each organisation; realising that working together enables increased support to those in the community who need it most,” he said.

FareShare, which operates Australia’s largest non-profit kitchens in Melbourne and Brisbane currently serves up two million meals annually.

FareShare Vice Board Chair Sandy Dudakov, OAM, said the merger would transform the sector.

More than 25 million kilograms of produce is saved by the food charities annually and redistributed to communities in need. Picture: Supplied

“FareShare meals can be distributed nationally in the community using the existing SecondBite network. Front-line agencies will have the convenience of a single delivery providing SecondBite food and FareShare meals,” Dudakov said.

“Our reach will be wider, and our ability to provide more nutritious meals to many more people will be vastly improved. My hope is that this merger will inspire even greater collaboration between all members of the food relief sector.”

Originally published as Food relief rendezvous: SecondBite and FareShare join forces to tackle hunger