giving your fare share

Originally posted on my other blog but sometimes food and politics intersect.

This week I had the pleasure of meeting a couple of StreetSmart’s grant recipients. We got to see behind the scenes at The Social Studio and break (injera) bread with Marcus and Kelly from FareShare.

I’d heard of Fareshare, largely through @msmadwoman’s singles cooking for a cause events, but knew little of the logistics behind this burgeoning organization. These guys turn industrial quantities of donated ingredients into (correct me if I got the number wrong Marcus) half a million meals a year.

200,000 people in Victoria are classified as food insecure, regularly missing meals because they can’t afford to eat. While much of the food and labour is donated, the out of pocket cost of turning a pallet of just-within-sell-by-date-chicken into chicken pies is about 50 cents a meal. That’s the culinary equivalent of making a silk purse out of a sow’s ear.

Which got me thinking. Having been a victim of Westpac taking over my handpicked non-big-four bank twice now, I’m still choking on the $90 million they’ve spent to rebadge the recently acquired St George Bank back into (the previously raided and closed) Bank of Melbourne. While banks like Westpac are known for their corporate philanthropy, such as releasing staff to do voluntary work for a few days a year (in places like the FareShare kitchen) I’d have preferred they spent the money buying 180 million extra meals for disadvantaged locals.

While we’d like to think these grassroots organizations would love us to volunteer our time, in reality they’d prefer our (and the corporates) money. See the contact details below if you’d like to share the love this season.

Streetsmart: If you aren’t eating out at any participating restaurants this festive season, you can donate directly

FareShare: donate online every buck buys two meals.

The Social Studio: provides a variety of ways you can contribute to helping refugees start a new life, from having a coffee at the café or buying a new frock, to donating directly.

M.A.D Woman: has a range of innovative fundraising events for everyone (not just singles).

eating for a cause

Six weeks to Christmas means just one thing.

Streetsmart.

Or this year, DineSmart. Same great organisation, same concept (just add a couple of bucks to the bill at participating eateries), only a minor name change due to the expansion of their fund raising arms.

These guys were the first to introduce the concept to Australia and while some bigger organisations have muscled in on the action, I like DineSmart because of their support of small, local community groups that wouldn't always qualify for other funding.

Find a DineSmart participating restaurant.

(Do I need an excuse to brunch at Miss Marmalade? No I don't, I'll just be donating to a good cause!)

DineSmart gives 100% of the money raised through DineSmart to grassroots organisations, it doesn't get gobbled up in administration costs like the big guys.

It also supports wonderful places like The Social Studio (and their Cutting Table Cafe in Collingwood.

Helping them buy essential items like sewing machines.

So refugees can be nurtured through off campus education.

Sounds familiar? Previous StreetSmart posts:

Streetsmart 2010 (the one with that Sydney sight that made my jaw drop)

Streetsmart 2009

eat smart: StreetSmart

Sorry if elements of this post looks familiar, it just means you were on my other blog recently.

A couple of weeks ago I was in Sydney and as I wandered through the city, I came across a group of rowdy high school or uni students taking a video of themselves singing and dancing in a side street. The street provided a natural ampitheatre, blocked off from traffic, sub-tropical flora to provide shade on a hot day. A couple of pricey looking restaurants overlooked the public seating area. An oasis in a busy city.

Then I noticed someone else.

Was he performance art too?



No, just a homeless man trying to have a kip in the shade, while the fat cats chowed down on lunch pretending to not see him.

The homeless are someone's father/mother/brother/sister/child/classmate/friend. StreetSmart makes a difference by supporting grassroots organisations working in their local areas.

Check out the StreetSmart site to find a participating restaurant. The Melbourne line-up has changed a bit this year but covers eateries that cater to a variety of tastes and budgets.

StreetSmart is on now until 24th December. Please eat generously.


What I wrote about StreetSmart 2009.

it’s a jungle out there

Another downpour last night! The garden is lush, a small forest of tomato plants, spring onions, cos lettuces and silverbeet.

But there are some people in this city who live in a different kind of jungle; under railway bridges or in temporary accommodation, sleeping with one eye open.

No crispy cos salad straight from the garden or delicious morsels at Bistro Flor for them.

A timely reminder that StreetSmart is in full swing in the eastern states, until December 24th. Support your favourite local restaurants supporting Street Smart – getting money to the grassroots organisation in your community that are helping those impacted by homelessness.

so you need another good excuse to eat out?

StreetSmart is back for another year. From Monday through to Christmas you have yet another excuse to eat out. The twist is that by dining at any of the participating restaurants and donating a mere $2 (or more) to Street Smart when you pay the bill, the money goes directly to helping the homeless.

The organization supports grass roots charities, so the money goes straight to the people who need it, rather than getting gobbled up in administration and fundraising costs. Last year over $127,000 was raised in Victoria alone. Have a look at the grants to see how that money was spent.

I’m very excited that I now have another reason to go eat at Bistro Flor. That place is just too convenient to walk to and you have got to admire a place with such excellent food that keeps all its delicious wines by the glass to a mere $8 (or there abouts).

The food blogging community’s old friend The Commoner is participating and you can through in an extra couple of bucks when you rock up to Birdman Eating for some baked eggs for breakfast. Many of my old time haunts in the CBD have signed up. Maybe that’s enough to lure me back to Punch Lane for old times sake?

Let’s face it, if you live in Melbourne (or any of the other Eastern states) and read this blog you are likely to be asking yourself “Where should I eat tonight?” sometime in the coming weeks. Street Smart makes it just that much easier.

And don’t forget, the donation is not in lieu of your waiter’s tip. Many of them will be on an unpaid break through those quiet weeks in summer when every restaurant you want to go to is shut. So let’s keep them off the streets as well.