A team of Qantas and Food “ResQ” volunteers at Qantas catering centres in Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne, has developed a process to collect a variety of untouched food items from domestic flights, which is then picked up by OzHarvest vans and delivered to a range of charitable organisations.
Rescued food from domestic flights includes unopened food items and fruits – such as apples, bananas, muesli bars, breakfast cereal, baked goods and water cups. As a premium airline Qantas caters for every passenger on-board however not everyone chooses to eat when they fly, so this food is now collected as part of the Qantas Food ResQ program.
Alison Webster, Executive Manager Qantas Freight and Qantas Catering Group said the program has been a huge success to date with tonnes of food distributed to underprivileged school children, drought-affected families, refuge centres, youth centres and many more community causes.
“Every kilogram of food that can be rescued from a Qantas flight saves perfectly edible food from ending up in landfill which not only protects the environment but helps make a positive difference to the lives of those less fortunate,” said Ms Webster.
“The Qantas Food ResQ program is run by a terrific group of volunteers who treasure hunt through the catering boxes on the lookout for packaged items such as sweet treats and whole fruit to salvage.”
Founder and CEO of OzHarvest, Ronni Kahn is constantly looking for innovative ways to tackle food waste in Australia and says the surplus items saved from the Qantas domestic food boxes make a real difference to those in need.
“OzHarvest collects surplus food from more than 2,000 food donors around the country. Thanks to the generosity of these food donors, rather than ending up as waste, this quality food feeds vulnerable women, men and children as well as reducing massive costs for food disposal.
“This type of collaboration shows a major commitment towards the national target of reducing food waste in Australia by 50 per cent by 2025.”