Ordinary community members do extraordinary things: Fight food waste and hunger
FOURWAYS – Nosh Food Rescue works across the north and west of Johannesburg to redistribute food that would otherwise be thrown away, to those who are hungry.
One small non-profit organisation is working hard to ensure that people in Fourways, among many other areas, have access to food.
According to Nosh Food Rescue, a local non-profit organisation based in the northern and western parts of Johannesburg, about 30 per cent (or 10 million tons) of the food produced in South Africa is not actually eaten but instead is thrown away unconsumed. As astounding as this figure is, it is even worse when one remembers that Stats South Africa believes about 6.8 million people in South Africa faced food insecurity (not having reliable access to enough nutritious food) in 2017.
The company, which was founded and is managed by Hanneke van Linge, tries to address both these problems by distributing food that would otherwise be thrown away to those in need. The need for Nosh became apparent to her as she tried to feed the hungry.
“I took over a soup kitchen in the Krugersdorp area from a friend in 2015,” she told the Fourways Review. “Because I didn’t have the resources to buy all the food for it, I started learning about food waste that could be donated to the soup kitchen. I registered Nosh Food Rescue in 2017.”
The soup kitchen is still going strong, as the Fourways Review witnessed when it visited on 4 October. About 150 people, most of them unemployed, come through to it each Friday to get food. The soup kitchen is set up at the corner of Michael Brink and Corlett roads and serves men, women and children from around the area and neighbouring informal settlements.
“The church [located nearby] runs a soup kitchen on Tuesdays and Thursdays,” explained Peace Mphfi, who himself depends on the meals and who helps Van Linge set up the kitchen each week. “But on the other days we’re on our own. This soup kitchen helps on the weekend, so we know at least we’ll have something to eat on Fridays.”
Nosh no longer just helps the hungry people of Krugersdorp though – according to Van Linge, the non-profit organisation now helps about 30 organisations that are trying to feed the hungry in places such as Hillbrow, Berea and Midrand.
“At the moment we get most of our food from big retailers,” she explained. “Although we also get some from caterers and small scale farmers who have surplus produce.
“There are a number of reasons that food might be thrown away [by retailers], including that it is past it’s sell-by date, the packaging has become damaged or that the store has already ordered more food for tomorrow but hasn’t sold everything today.”
Nosh collects food from places around the city, including from North Riding and a pizza place in Fourways which bakes its unused pizza dough into loaves of bread, for redistribution.
“The majority of food waste in developing countries like South Africa is not from the homes of private consumers, but happens on a larger scale. What I really want to see from the public is that they are raising awareness [both about food insecurity and waste] and getting involved. Not a day goes by when I’m not asked to help an organisation get food.”
And it is hard to keep up with demand, she added. “We’re absolutely ready to upscale but the problem is resources. I spend a lot of time and fuel picking up food from stores but there’s only one of me.”
Van Linge encourages the public to get involved with this work by volunteering with Nosh, lobbying your local grocery store and by helping the organisation find a site to create a permanent premises. Some help with the day to day tasks. “We need help setting up a network of people who are able to pick up food from stores that we can then distribute. Anyone with a bakkie who can help transport food is welcome to get hold of me. I also need help fundraising.”
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