Go Eco Food Rescue – rescuing food during a pandemic
Go Eco Food Rescue (Kaivolution) has been stepping it up a notch since we went into Level 4 lockdown. This includes coordinating new driver teams, managing restriction protocols, and meeting the expected increase in demand during a stressful time.
Food Rescue is Go Eco’s largest climate action project. They collect food that would otherwise go to waste and support its redistribution across the region. This rescued food is given to community organisations who distribute to their networks while community free-stores make food available directly to anyone who wishes to save it from going to waste.
Go Eco rescues on average 45,000kg of food per month. Capacity has doubled in the last 2-3 years, in fact last year was their biggest year yet with a total of 476,554 kgs of food diverted from landfill. It's the equivalent of over $2.1 million worth of food!
Go Eco is a Hamilton based charitable trust. Go Eco Manager, Jo Wrigley says there is a fair amount of food to be rescued now as many restaurants and cafes have found themselves with excess stock that they can’t move due to lock down restrictions.
“During the first 2 days of the Level 4 lockdown we had already rescued nearly 2 tonnes of perfectly edible food” says Jo.
As a result of the 2020 lockdown, there have been many learnings, and improvements to internal safety processes and capacity. Nationally, MSD stepped in to help support food security and the establishment of the New Zealand Food Network and Aotearoa Food Rescue Alliance has resulted in Go Eco receiving greater quantities of food to distribute.
But this time around, protocols for alert level 4 were tougher, reflecting the Delta variant’s ability to spread much easier.
Go Eco Food Rescue works with a variety of food suppliers across the Waikato including: Countdown, New World, Pak N Save, Bidvest, Prolife Foods, Sky City Hamilton, Volare, Ingham’s Chicken, Nando’s, The Lettuce Man, Waikato Farmers’ Market, Newstead Apple Orchard, Kiwi Harvest, Community Fruit Pick, and the Hamilton Gardens.
When food waste goes to landfill, not only is the energy which produced the food wasted, but it also creates harmful greenhouse gases as it breaks down, which contributes to our carbon emissions.
The message for the food industry is – if there is excess food – don’t throw it out! As an essential service, Go Eco Food Rescue can safely rescue food and distribute it to our communities.
Email kaivolution@goeco.org.nz to arrange a contactless pick up.