Today food rescue and relief charity FareShare officially opens the doors of its new kitchen at South Audley Street, Abbotsford, in Melbourne's inner north east.
The state-of-the-art facility will serve as Australia's largest charity kitchen, and will see rescued, donated and homegrown food transformed into millions of delicious, healthy meals to support the dignity and wellbeing of Australians experiencing hardship.
The Allan Labor Government contributed $2.2 million to the project which upgraded key equipment to expand packing and chilling capacity.
The Albanese Labor Government committed $2 million to the $8.16 million project, which significantly upgraded the kitchen. Nearly $4 million was raised by philanthropic funding to make up the remaining funds toward the project.
With a kitchen area that has been expanded by 35 per cent, FareShare is now able to produce a staggering additional 500,000 meals every year.
In addition to the new kitchen facilities, the site's warehouse has more than doubled in size, to enable the storage of larger quantities of rescued food, as well as keeping the vegetables and herbs grown at FareShare's kitchen gardens fresh.
There are also new offices, banks of ovens, cool rooms, wash areas, store rooms, a forklift area, laundry and cleaners' areas, bin rooms, toilets and parking spaces.
FareShare's meals for people experiencing food insecurity are given away free to frontline charities such as soup vans, homeless shelters, women's refuges, First Nations organisations and groups providing disaster relief.
Quotes attributable to Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government Catherine King:
"There are plenty of people here in Melbourne and across Australia, who are suffering hardship and finding it difficult to afford meals.
"It's wonderful to see the significantly upgraded facilities here at the Fareshare Abbotsford Charity Kitchen now open, which will be able to dish up 4,000 free meals a day, to more than 400 charities that will assist in distributing the food to those in hardship.
"The upgraded facilities will also allow for meal production for frontline charities to be upscaled in times of natural disasters should this be needed."
Quotes attributable to Victorian Minister for Carers and Volunteers Ros Spence:
"FareShare's efforts provide a lifeline for people doing it tough and we're proud to support their work day in and day out to support those who need a helping hand, contributing to stronger, more connected communities."
"No Victorian family should have to worry about putting food on the table, which is why we've invested more than $56 million since 2020 to strengthen support, including for six regional food relief hubs."
Quotes attributable to Federal Member for Macnamara Josh Burns:
"As well as the essential service this will provide in feeding the hungry in our city, these new facilities will improve outcomes for social amenity and cohesion, health and wellbeing for those in need.
"This project will make a real difference to many right across our city - by helping people at the ground level of hardship get a good feed."
Quotes attributable to Federal Member for Higgins Michelle Ananda-Rajah:
"The Australian Government understands that many people are facing tough times, even in our country's largest cities. That's why we've helped fund this expanded facility, which will now be able to provide many more meals for the charities it assists.
"What a great outcome to now have the Fareshare Abbotsford Charity Kitchen working at greater capacity, to support even more people in our city who are experiencing hardship."
Quote attributable to State Member for Northern Metropolitan Enver Erdogan
"We're proud to support food relief operations like this one in Abbotsford, rescuing food from going to waste and - with the champion efforts of a team of volunteers - feeding thousands of hungry people."
Quotes attributable to SecondBite | FareShare CEO Daniel Moorfield:
"The new facility couldn't come at a better time to support the growing needs of Australians as they do it tough in the cost-of-living crisis.
"This facility would not have been possible without the support of the Australian and Victorian governments, and our many dedicated supporters - both financial and in kind.
"We would love to thank each and every one of them, who came together to make this happen.
"It is only with their help that we are officially opening our doors today and producing more meals than ever before."
