Melbourne food personalities and leading chef, George Calombaris will join food rescue charity OzHarvest to feed up to 1,500 members of the public a free “rescued” meal at the State Library forecourt on Monday, 25 July from 11.30am – 2.30pm at Think.Eat.Save.

George Calombaris and his crew at Gazi and Hellenic Republic will be cooking a lamb and vegetable soup followed by a Chia pudding, to be complemented with a Thai pumpkin soup and Strawberry and vanilla yoghurt panna cotta cooked by the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre (MCEC) with bread donated from Brasserie Bread. All meals will be created from rescued ingredients that would have otherwise ended up in landfill and served with the support of local personalities including Appetite for Excellence 2016 finalists Dave Parker (San Telmo & Pastuso), Mal Meiers (Fatto Bar & Cantina) and Thiago Miranda (Church Street Enoteca).

OzHarvest Think.Eat.Save supporter, author and media personality Alice Zaslavsky will lead formalities on the day including a live panel discussion on food waste, food security and sustainability with industry experts including OzHarvest ambassador and owner of recently closed Brothl Joost Bakker, Victorian Eco Innovation Lab (authors of “Foodprint Melbourne”) Jen Sheridan, cook, author, producer (Outback Spirit) and native foods advocate, Juleigh Robins and Woolworths Head of Community, Anna Lohe. Deputy Lord Mayor Susan Riley will be present to formally open the event.

Think.Eat.Save events taking place nationwide will see some of the nation’s top chefs, business leaders, politicians and celebrities unite to address the urgent issue of food waste, which is currently costing Australians up to $8 billion each year.

Partnering with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), OzHarvest is urging Australians to take action on food waste.

Founder and CEO of OzHarvest, Ronni Kahn, said the aim of Think.Eat.Save 2016 is to bring attention to the alarming amount of food wasted in Australia and around the world, where roughly one third of food produced for human consumption (approx. 1.3 billion tonnes) is wasted or lost along the way.

“The current global and local food waste statistics are alarming,” Ms Kahn said. “We urgently need change to happen now to ensure a sustainable food system for future generations. This year at Think.Eat.Save we are urging Australians to make a dish using their leftovers, giving life to food that would otherwise have been wasted.

“These small efforts to reduce food waste create positive change and inspire others to take action about the urgent issue of food waste and food security.”

Members of the public are encouraged to get involved by making a personal pledge to change their eating behaviour and reduce food waste via #PledgeAPlate. You can pledge a plate by making a meal out of leftovers, rescued or saved ingredients, taking a photo and uploading it on social media with the hashtag #PledgeAPlate and fundraise via www.pledgeaplate.com. Those participating are then encouraged to nominate someone else to take part via social media.

To mark the fourth annual national Australian campaign to reduce food waste, OzHarvest will host 11 events across the country, feeding over 15,000 thousand people a free, delicious and hearty hot meal made from rescued produce and educating people about reducing food waste.

#PledgeAPlate Campaign Toolkits will be made available from July 25 at www.pledgeaplate.com for businesses and schools to take action and get involved in the Think.Eat.Save campaign.

MELBOURNE THINK.EAT.SAVE DETAILS

DATE: Monday, 25 July

TIME: 11.30am to 2.30pm

LOCATION: The State Library of Victoria forecourt, 328 Swanston Street

MELBOURNE MENU:

Lamb and vegetable soup, Gazi

Chia pudding, Hellenic Republic

Thai pumpkin soup, MCEC

Strawberry and vanilla yoghurt panna cotta, MCEC

Bread, Brasserie Bread

AVAILABLE FOR INTERVIEW UPON REQUEST:

Alice Zaslavsky

George Calombaris

Dave Parker (San Telmo & Pastuso)

Mal Meiers (Fatto Bar & Cantina)

Thiago Miranda (Church Street Enoteca)

The national food waste reduction campaign is supported by Woolworths and Glad.

NATIONAL THINK.EAT.SAVE PUBLIC EVENTS

DATE & TIME: Monday, 25 July from 11.30am – 2.30pm (major cities)

CLICK HERE FOR FULL LOCATION LIST

Sydney event: Martin Place, Sydney

Adelaide event: The University of Adelaide Goodman Lawns, North Terrace

Brisbane event: St Stephen’s Cathedral, Brisbane

Canberra event: Garema Place

Gold Coast event: The 4217, 10 Beach Road, Surfers Paradise

Melbourne event: The State Library of Victoria, Melbourne

Newcastle event: Wheeler Place, Newcastle

Perth event: Forrest Place, Perth CBD

Regional Areas: Cairns, Sapphire Coast, Armidale

For a full list of events and information, please visit www.ozharvest.org.

Social media tags: @ozharvest @UN #thinkeatsave #pledgeaplate