Simone Carson

SecondBite is a substantial social enterprise founded by myself and Ian Carson in 2005. It’s purpose is to rescue food that would ordinarily end up in landfill and redistribute it to local charities around Australia. These charities run food programs to support people in need in their communities. It is widely regarded as the most efficient and only genuinely national food rescue organisation in Australia. From an initial collection of 100kg of surplus food in 2005, Secondbite in FY19 rescued over 19.4 million kg of food nationally. That is enough food for more than 38 million meals. With more than 4 million Australians experiencing food insecurity each year, there is still much to be done. I began my career as a nurse working for many years in the ICU of the Royal Children’s Hospital in Victoria. That time showed me how many families struggle to access fresh food and how great the need is. The greatest nutritional need is actually amongst those who are disadvantaged or experiencing chronic health problems. Good quality fresh food is essential to good physical and mental health. It also highlighted that ‘Community’ are capable of caring for their own. Governments cannot solve all problems, it takes partnerships between individuals, organisations and communities. Over the 14 years as a director of SecondBite, I have worked with an extraordinary team to create a charity to help alleviate hunger. My involvement in every part of SecondBites growth and innovations has given me a deep understanding of the complex equation of solving hunger by stopping food waste. We now know that food rescue is one of the solutions to the larger environmental waste problem.