Cooking for a good cause

Attendees at the recent Tauranga Spring Home Show experienced a culinary treat of a different variety as they gathered to watch well-known chefs Peter Blakeway and Shane Yardley in the Garbage to Gourmet Kitchen. There was no hint of ‘garbage’ with delicious meals like pureed eggplant, coconut-roasted cauliflower and beef stir-fry on the menu and in true gourmet chef style were whipped up in mere minutes for the crowd.

The chefs, and Toi Ohomai Institute of Technology culinary arts tutors, were presenting the live cooking show to raise awareness of Good Neighbour, a local charity that is on a mission to make positive changes to communities through neighbourhood projects, food rescue and community gardens.

It was the food rescue arm of the charity that Peter and Shane were there to promote, as they reminded the crowd just how much food would go to waste without the work of Good Neighbour.

“Five tonnes every week!” Peter told the crowd. “That’s how much food Good Neighbour is collecting from its suppliers and redistributing to other charities. Food that would otherwise end up in landfill.”

In true My Kitchen Rules fashion, each cooking demonstration began with the chefs being presented a ‘mystery box’ of rescued food. They had just a few minutes to assess the contents of the box and then the pressure was on to make a delicious meal from it.

“Our society has decided this food is worthless,” Peter remarked. “But it’s not worthless, it’s good enough to eat, just not good enough to sell. We want to start a conversation about food sustainability.”

“We love food but hate waste,” Shane adds. “While we teach our students that ‘fresh is best’ this is a different scenario – Good Neighbour are providing a vital service, rescuing food has multiple purposes and we are happy to bring any awareness we can to the cause.”

Good Neighbour’s John Paine says the charity has many volunteers, but still needs more.

“We have about 85 people working on food rescue at the moment – but we welcome anyone who can spare a few hours a week to help us.”

Local charities who benefit from Good Neighbour’s food rescue service include: The Salvation Army, Homes of Hope, Te Aranui Youth Trust, Tauranga Women’s Refuge and many more. Anyone wanting to volunteer can visit the website: www.goodneighbour.co.nz