Whitehorse News - January 2023

Conceived in the middle of the 2021 lockdowns, Eastern Food Rescue (EFR) is a volunteer-run initiative providing food to those in need and diverting food waste from landfill.

“At EFR, we rescue fresh food from supermarkets that would otherwise be thrown out and distribute it to the community,” explained Melanie Worsey, EFR’s Treasurer. Melanie is a stay-at-home Mum of five who joined EFR after seeing a post on Facebook about a free food pantry that had been set up nearby.

“I went along to check it out and could see they needed some help with organising and packing up food. I offered to help, and ended up regularly helping out as a volunteer.”

She is one 50+ volunteers at EFR. The organisation, founded by local resident Emma Tucker, operates free food markets and an outdoor free pantry that the community can access 24/7. 

The pantry is located at 8–12 Simla Street, Mitcham and the space was generously provided for by Mitcham Baptist Church. 

Volunteers collect donated food from local supermarkets and drive it to the pantry during the week. On the weekend, it is taken to their market locations. Here, it is sorted, organised and distributed to the community for free.

“The food available changes depending on what we receive each day, but always includes beautiful fresh fruits and vegetables, many varieties of bread, some dairy and meat products as well as long-life groceries, sweet pastries and bakery items,” said Melanie.

Any inedible food is disposed of through household compost systems and Council’s Food and Garden Organics bin.

“Our aim is to reduce food waste and distribute rescued food to the community as a free food source. This benefits the environment, local businesses and community members, especially those who have struggled through the pandemic and are finding food security more challenging with inflation and increased cost of living,” said Melanie.

EFR has grown considerably. What began with one person picking up a single delivery and putting it in a small pantry has become an operation involving 100 deliveries of food per week, distributed through 12 weekly markets. 

Melanie explained that EFR is largely supported through generous community donations.

“We are also very grateful to Whitehorse City Council, Bendigo Bank and Noel Jones for their financial support through grants.”

She also explained EFR’s recent hunt for a new weekend market location.

“This was a wonderful opportunity for us to reach out to different areas of the community and help people learn about EFR, what we do and how we receive our food,” she said.

“So far, we have had markets at Koonung Cottage Community House and Vermont South Community House. We also plan to have markets at Eley Rd Community House and Eley Park Community Annex in the New Year. Heatherdale Tennis Club has also generously allowed us to use their facilities for our Sunday markets.”

To find out when and where EFR is running their markets, follow them on Facebook 

If you would like to contribute to the amazing work done by EFR, you can donate, become a volunteer or simply offer to help the team recycle cardboard boxes or compost inedible food. You can do so in person at their markets or pantry, or by emailing easternfoodrescue@gmail.com