“Plant-based, zero waste” - Hungry for Raw are here!

Press Release for Immediate Release:

“Plant-based, zero waste” - Hungry for Raw are here!

Auckland, New Zealand

www.HungryForRaw.com

What

Hungry for Raw is a catering project started last year to fundraise for our charity, Go Vegan. We make high-raw, gourmet meals and sweets with nutrient dense whole and fermented foods that don’t cost the Earth. We’re vegan, gluten-free, and cane-sugar free as well!

When

Our PledgeMe crowdfunding campaign is running until Friday 24th March, 5pm.

If we don’t reach our target, we get no funding - that means we need your help!

https://www.pledgeme.co.nz/projects/4468-hungry-for-raw-high-raw-artisan-catering-in-auckland-and-beyond

Funds will help us a van so we can deliver gear to events, markets, and eventually homes. Profits from Hungry for Raw go towards printing our free starter kits which are distributed nationwide at no cost to people through www.GoVegan.org.nz, and eventually will fund land for a retreat centre and animal sanctuary modelling creative waste management solutions.

Where

We run stalls at markets and events in and around Auckland while produce is in season. We also run raw uncooking classes and fermenting workshops, as well as raw and cooked private catering all year round.

Who

Hungry for Raw is managed by volunteers Erin and Jess on behalf of the wider Go Vegan project
From Erin:

“Our goal is to create employment opportunities and pay a living wage - particularly to women and gender minorities who live with chronic illness, like ourselves. We want to create more and more opportunities that serve the community and fulfil the charitable aims.

We want to demonstrate to other businesses that a zero-waste mobile food service is possible. I see so much waste at festivals and events. In the past I would attend events and find that the only options were hot chips or unhealthy food, with no recycling or composting facilities. I want tasty, healthy food to be more accessible for people like me - and it has to be more than a bunch of green leaves with a tomato on top!

I’ve had chronic physical and mental health issues long before I switched to a vegan diet. Being lactose intolerant and having a great love for animals, it was a simple decision. I found that the best way to really connect with people about my compassion for animals was through positive engagement with those around me. Sharing nutritious plant-based whole foods also shows others just how tasty fresh food can be.

We wanted to teach not only through words but through our actions in the hope of a better future for all. I want this work to reflect all of the values that connect together - not just compassion for animals - but for the environment and for other people too. We started thinking of how our charity was REALLY helping people - could we help others by making healthy foods both affordable and accessible? How can we make them more accessible?”

Why Zero Waste?

“It worries me that New Zealand isn’t really clean and green. Drastic efforts need to happen and we need to do that together. A huge part of this is policy change at the government level - but individuals, charities, community groups and businesses all need to do our part too. Over 100 million tonnes of plastic gets produced each year and most of this is single-use, disposable bags and cutlery. New Zealanders are now creating huge quantities of rubbish and this is simply unsustainable.

We particularly want to see an end to plastic bags in Auckland just as they have in many of the major metropolitan cities around the world, and a commitment to zero-waste events throughout the region. Recycling plastic bags is now commonplace, but they can only be recycled once, cost $4000 per tonne, and for some reason get shipped to Australia to be recycled even though we have the facilities here. And that also means they don’t get put with general waste.

Waste Not Consulting did a study on food waste in 2014 on behalf of WasteMINZ.[2]The rubbish bins of 1,402 households were studied with their food waste sorted, weighed and costed. The study found that 229,022 tonnes of food is sent to landfill by households annually. Of this approximately 50% is avoidable food waste. The national cost of avoidable household food waste disposed of to landfill in 2014/2015 was $872 million pa. Eliminating this food waste would have the same effect as reducing CO2 equivalent emissions by 325,975 tonnes – equivalent to planting 130,390 trees or taking 118,107 cars off the road for a year.

It comes down to what waste goes where - only some waste should go to landfill. At Hungry for Raw we compost all organic waste, including cutlery and plates that we use. Soon we’ll be ‘washing against waste’ at our own stalls and will be working with local council to promote this scheme.

Plant based?

“We think the reasons for being plant-based are strong enough if it were a case of animal compassion alone. I love cows and feel like it’s my future to help rescue and care for cows, like I do for large breed dogs (I have two). I have so many ideas, including producing methane from cow poo, and biochar production that can deal with any type of organic waste, including human and other animal poo!

Research is consistent on this point: most animal consumption is terribly unsustainable. We must protect the ecosystem of our soil and the health of our waterways before agribusiness costs us both. The best way we can help as individuals is by supporting those charities and businesses pushing for this change - and buying whole foods and local produce where possible. I want to share how to make simple, nutrient dense plant-based meals. It’s really easy to prepare food like this - and it’s utterly delicious.”

Notes

Similar themed articles for plant based food.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/life-style/well-good/83230565/Plant-based-power-Why-people-go-vegan

http://www.vegetarian.org.nz/health-and-nutrition/benefits-of-a-plant-based-diet/

http://www.onegreenplanet.org/news/tyson-ceo-thinks-plant-based-is-future-of-protein/

Zero waste info

http://plasticisrubbish.com/2013/10/26/some-plastic-facts/

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