With almost one third of Foodbank NSW’s fresh fruit and veg being supplied from the Griffith region produce manger Lou Revelant was unimpressed with the prospect of cuts to the charity proposed by the federal government.
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Earlier this week Foodbank Australia faced proposed cuts of $300,000 in federal funding which would been redistributed to charities SecondBite and OzHarvest.
With the cuts heavily criticised, Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced a total reversal of the policy promising to maintain the charity’s funding and increase the Federal Food Relief budget by $1.5 million over the next 4.5 years.
“I organize fresh fruit and veg out of Griffith all our fruit and veg goes to a warehouse in Glendenning (Sydney),” Mr Revelant said.
“We see 600 to 700 tonnes (freighted out) per annum and provide almost a third of the fruit and veg for (Foodbank NSW).”
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Mr Revelant said that if the cuts had gone through, funding for sending freight such as fresh fruit in and out of the regional centers would likely have been among the first components of the charity’s operation to be cut.
“The cost factor is getting it out to the to the regions, a lot of the stuff that is distributed locally around Sydney is picked up by the Charities themselves so the freight subsidies is used to get stuff outside that metropolitan area,” Mr Revelant said.
Much of the produce collected by Foodbank in Griffith is off-cuts from farmers which are un-marketable but perfectly good to eat, any one wanting to donate fruit or veg can reach Mr Revelant on 0427 687 006.
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