'Taste with none of the waste': Feast for the Senses at Lake Macquarie's Living Smart Festival 2023

OzHarvest is catering this year's event which is organised by Lake Macquarie City Council as part of its annual Living Smart Festival.

"A key theme and message for this year's Living Smart Festival is waste and waste reduction," council learning and engagement coordinator Kirrily Anderson said.

"To have OzHarvest cater the event with rescued food and zero waste is perfect for our goal of having a sustainable event.

"Additionally, any leftovers are packaged at the end of the event and redistributed to people in need. It brings into focus the amazing work that is being done to protect our planet and highlights how we can, individually and together, make an impact on the 'war on waste'."

Included with your ticket ($70) is a two-course menu (a main and dessert) plus a welcome drink on arrival.

For the main, you can choose from a warm aromatic rice and lentil pilaf with caramelised onions and almonds and topped with shawarma spiced mushrooms, house pickles, tahini and herbs; or a grilled halloumi, vegan nduja, fennel slaw and aquafaba aioli burger. Both options are served with twice-cooked potatos.

And dessert? Chocolate, orange and jasmine slice with earl grey ganache.

Drinks will be available for purchase on the night from the on-site bar. All alcoholic beverages are being sourced from local suppliers.

OzHarvest's Grace Turbott said the Food For Good Food Truck had been operating since 2016.

"Every paid event enables OzHarvest to deliver a nourishing lunch, free of charge, to a charity or community event for vulnerable Australians," she explained.

"All our food is prepared with love by OzHarvest chefs, using sustainably sourced ingredients. The offerings focus on vegetarian options to help protect our planet."

Entertainment at Feast for the Senses 2023 will be provided by Newcastle's Earthen Rhythms African Drumming Group and Hot Potato Band, a New Orleans-style brass band from Sydney.

OzHarvest was founded in 2004 by Ronni Kahn AO after she noticed the huge volume of food going to waste from her events business. From humble beginnings, OzHarvest has become a leading food rescue organisation that stops good food from going to waste and delivers it to charities that help feed people in need.

The yellow OzHarvest vans collect quality surplus food from a network of donors daily, including supermarkets, cafes, delis, restaurants, corporate kitchens, airlines, hotels and other food businesses.

OzHarvest data reveals more than 2 million households in Australia went hungry over the past 12 months due to lack of funds, sometimes skipping meals or going whole days without eating.

Demand for food relief is higher than ever. The charities OzHarvest support reported a 61 per cent increase in demand in the past six months. Thirty-two per cent of these charities cannot meet the current demand and reported that 30 per cent of the people they support are seeking food relief for the first time.

OzHarvest data also revealed 54 per cent of food-insecure households have someone in paid work. The rising cost of living is the most common explanation for why people are failing to meet their household food requirements.

On a typical day, 306,000 households are receiving assistance from food relief organisations, and 1.3 million children lived in food insecure households in the past year.

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