COMMUNITY
Adelaide’s first free supermarket opened in August in a bid to both ease the cost of living for people in need and reduce food waste. The OzHarvest grocery store offers produce, pantry items and cooked meals to people in need for free. All the food stocked has been rescued from local businesses that would have otherwise have gone to landfill.
For Joel Greenstock and his partner Andrea Caple, the supermarket will make a massive difference. “My partner and I are living in a tent at the moment down at Semaphore Caravan Park. It’s been a bit hard, but things like this when we’re on low incomes really help out a lot,” Greenstock says. “If you eat well, if you're looked after well, it helps you dress a bit better, even in the worst circumstances, and it really keeps your positive attitude going as well.”
For another shopper, Max, who lives with Down syndrome, the free supermarket means better access to nutritious produce. His support worker, Cathrin Gill, says the new supermarket will help to hone and encourage new kitchen skills. “Our clients have a very low income, so they mainly live off their disability support pension . . . and this just gives them opportunity and access to meals that wouldn’t always be available for them,” she says. “Living on takeaway isn’t ideal, but it’s often really convenient for people with a disability on low income, but this has given them new chances to increase their cooking skills and [provided access to] nutritious meals.”
OzHarvest Founder Ronni Kahn says many charities have been experiencing more demand than ever before. “In my 20 years of running OzHarvest I have never seen the demand as great — the cost of living, the results of post-covid — it’s biting into ordinary working people,” she says. “The need is enormous . . . charities are telling us they need 50% more food, and we are seeing queues lining up for fresh produce.”
OzHarvest runs another free supermarket in Sydney.
“What we’ve seen in Sydney is that the demand has gone up from 150 people a day to 500 people a day. We deliver the equivalent of half a million meals a week out into the community, and it’s not enough,” she notes.
OzHarvest SA manager Rachel Hibble says the cost of living crisis was affecting people from all walks of life.
“We know that nearly half the South Australian population is experiencing some sort of anxiety around thinking about where food is coming from, their next meal, people are making really tough decisions about what they spend their money on,” she says. “We have international students, we have families with young kids, we have overflow from domestic violence shelters, all sorts of people who are just needing a hand.”
The supermarket is open from 10am-2pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and from 3-7pm on Wednesdays.
“We’re open after hours on Wednesdays to look after the newest cohort of food release seekers, and they’re full-time workers; couples holding down full-time jobs but are just struggling to pay rent, pay the bills, so [this will] allow them to go to work, come here afterwards and get some food. Everyone is deserving, so we want to make it as accessible as possible,” Hibble says.
Kahn said customers had to be prepared for anything, with produce changing day to day depending on what the charity could source from donors. But, she said customers could always expect a warm welcome.
“Our volunteers just treat our guests in our supermarket with such care, respect and dignity, and that, I think, is what is so important,” she says. “The free supermarket is open to anyone in need. We do not ask any questions. Our intention is it’s for people in need, and so the invitation is out there for anyone who’s struggling at the moment, for anyone who has financial vulnerability, the free supermarket is here to support you.”
TOP Cathrin Gill with her client Max, who she says will have a better chance to eat well on a tight budget
ABOVE Ronni Kahn serving shoppers at the free supermarket
PHOTO ABC News/Briana Fiore
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